DeathNote: Grand Polarity
by Reibai no Kami
Summary: Currently suspended. The first installment in a long running AU of the DN universe. What if L hadn't grown up alone? L's longtime friend Ami aids in the race to catch Kira while they battle their pasts. Movie and Anime plot combo.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One:** _I am My Own Best Weapon_

"_I belong in the service of the Queen__  
__I belong anywhere but in between__  
__She's been lying and I've been sinking__  
__And I am the Rain King…"_

- "Rain King," _Counting Crows_

Rain splattered the dingy windows of a large hotel room in Tokyo. A dark-haired and lanky man in a worn white sweatshirt and stone-washed jeans sat cross-legged on the floor. He was in his late twenties, but could have been mistaken for his late teens. He was surrounded by shipping and moving boxes overflowing with electrical equipment, and he poked through various ones looking for nothing in particular. He pulled out a VHS cassette tape, examined its label and set it on the floor next to the box. He repeated the process five more times then scooted in front of a second box. Holding the sides of the box, he shook the box for no apparent reason, and started looking for another tape.

The door to the kitchen opened half-way. A woman also in her late 20s stood in the doorway holding another box of cables. "Where do you want this one?" she asked of the man on the floor.

No response.

The woman sighed, went into the living room, letting the door bang behind her. She sat the box outside of the man's ring of boxes, and knelt down on the floor. She flung her long-brown hair over her right shoulder. "Do we really need all of this equipment on-hand? It's taking up space."

The man looked up at briefly, showing her his dark eyes, and then looked back at the box he was examining. "We might need it at a moment's notice. I want to be prepared."

"You're being paranoid, L."

He ignored her, and she stood up again. "Where's the switchboard?" she asked.

"Ask Watari, I haven't seen it." He told her flatly.

"That's helpful; he's not here, remember?"

He ignored her, and she found herself annoyed. Ami fluffed her hair, stepped over a pile of tapes he had left on the floor, and headed back to towards the kitchen.

L stood up and shouted. "Ami!"

She jumped. "Wha…?" When she turned around, she found him standing and pointing a finger at her.

"BANG!"

She fell back a step. "What the heck is wrong with you?!" she asked nervously.

He put his hand down, but stared at her intently. "I need you to make sure you go by your Japanese name here."

Ami dropped her shoulders. "Eh, okay, but that was unnecessary."

L cocked his head to the side, looking at her blankly. "I needed your attention."

She walked over to him and pushed his left shoulder. "Moron."

He made no physical response to the push. "Did you do as I instructed?"

She huffed. "Yes, I destroyed everything I could do without, and everything else is in the orphanage vault in Rinzo."

"What's there?"

She rolled her eyes up and thought. "Uh…my diplomas and things like my passport. Anything with the English version of my name, plus a few other things."

He nodded, turned away, and looked off in the distance. "That's fine. I'll be getting you the identification I want you to carry if you actually need it."

"Alright."

L suddenly knelt back down to the floor and looked into one of the various boxes. He pulled out a tape, scanned it quickly, and held it in Ami's general direction. "Take this and watch it. It has information regarding the other people who are a part of the investigation."

Ami leaned and took the tape from him. She looked at it briefly, and looked up at him. "How do you know what this tape has on it, it's not labeled."

He rose half-way and grabbed the tape back from her. He stared at the tape blankly, and then pushed it back at her. "I know because it's not labeled."

She took it back. "So helpful…" Ami let her voice trail off.

L sat back down on the floor, and Ami sank to her knees on the floor. She watched L rummage through a box for a few moments. "I think you're working too hard. You're going to wear yourself out before we get anywhere near to catching him."

L suddenly looked up at her, and Ami felt the weight of his gaze. "You know, I think you may _actually_ care about me."

She scowled in response. "Actually? What's with the doubting part of that? If you're trying to be funny, it's not."

He looked off towards the front door. "I'm not trying to be funny, I'm just skeptical of everything."

Ami watched him. "You mean of my motivation?"

He continued to stare and ignored the question.

_Good lord, L, what's wrong with you?_ She wondered.

Ami gave a little laugh, "So what's it going to take to get rid of that skepticism?"

He turned to the box in front of him, put his hand in, and shuffled through the tapes. "Help me catch Kira."

She scoffed. "Is that it?"

He missed the sarcasm and told her flatly, "yes."

_Why is she asking these pointless questions? _He wondered.

Ami turned to the box she had brought from the kitchen. She found an unbound cable and started to wind it up in a circle. After she had created three circles, she heard a crash. Startled, Ami turned to the noise. L was holding an empty box over his head, while a pile of tapes sat on the floor at his feet. He looked up at her, but continued to hold the box. "I couldn't find what I was looking for."

She laughed. "You are such a little kid sometimes." Ami leaned over and took the box from his hands.

L looked down at the pile, held up a tape, and examined it. He jumped up and dashed over to a VCR and flat-screen monitor that was set up on the floor on the other side of the room. He knelt down and shoved the tape into the VCR.

Ami stared at him in confusion, still holding onto the box. _I really hope I don't have to pick up his messes as well,_ Ami wondered. Ami surveyed the piles of tapes and boxes. _Then again, we might not have anywhere to walk, if I don't._

_**Next Chapter:**_  
"L shows his violent side, and Ami trades secrets with Watari."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:** _When Justice Isn't Blind…or Controllable_

"_My temper flies and I get myself all wound up  
My fuse is short and my blood pressure is high  
I lose control and I get myself all wound up  
Tension mounts and I fly off the wall…"_

– "Bab's Uvula Who?," _Green Day_

_**The Next Day, around 10:00 pm**_

"I believe that we can narrow down the suspects to the people Ray Penbar was investigating. That would leave us with the Director's family, and Yagami-san's family." L announced.

Upon hearing his name, the stress-worn and well-suited Chief looked up. "You can't be serous Ryuuzaki?"

The obviously tired L shifted his position in the chair. "I am. In fact Light's personality most closely matches what I suspect Kira's to be."

The youngest member of the team and dressed in an inexpensive dark blue suit, Matsuda spoke up. "Aren't you jumping to conclusions?" he asked mildly.

L started to reply but was interrupted by a knock at the door, and Matsuda stood up. The kitchen door swung open and the visible older, yet well-dressed Watari stepped out. He started to tell the room he would get it, but was interrupted by Matsuda.

"Who's there?" he yelled towards the door.

Yagami and the bushy-haired Aizawa looked at the others in the room. Yagami then turned to him and asked, "Isn't everyone accounted for?"

Shock spread across Matsuda's face, and he stormed toward the door. With his left hand he pushed down on the door handle and started to open it slowly; with his right he started to pull his gun from the holster under his jacket.

Ami pushed the door open from the outside and peeked in. She could see Matsuda's hand inside of his coat and the butt of his 9 mm pistol. "Matsu…put it…" Ami stammered. She looked up, met L's eyes across the room, and was in shock.

The room became a fury of motion. L leapt up from the blue fabric chair, overturning it. He bypassed Watari by pushing him in the chest, knocking him to the floor. Yagami knelt on the couch and attempted to reach for L, but found he couldn't reach him before he reached Matsuda at the door. L pushed Matasuda into the corner at full-force, causing him to let go of the door handle. The door slammed on Ami – who yelps out of shock – but the chain fell inside of the doorframe, preventing it from slamming shut. Ami dropped her small black purse on the floor, but quickly retrieved it. She pushed the door open in time to watch L land a right hook into Matsuda's upper back, who yelled out in shock. Yagami, having come around the couch, grabbed at L before he could land a second punch on Matsuda. Unfortunately for him, L was in a blind rage by this point, and he flipped around. With his right fist he punched Yagami in the stomach, causing him to drop to his knees where he stood. In the meanwhile, Aizawa attempted to pull Matsuda from the corner, but did not have enough time. Also while L had been occupied with Yagami, Ami had slid inside of the room. Following the punch, she stepped between L and Matsuda, and made a grab for L herself. Reaching for his arms, she attempted to pin them at his sides.

"Stop it! He's…he's not trying to hurt me!" She shouted at L, who failed to respond.

Instead he grabbed _her_ arms and threw her back against the door. Ami landed with her lower back against the door handle, causing her to cry out in shock. L attempted to jump at Matsuda again, but Ami had had enough. She balled her right first and swung at L, landing a punch at his right eye, causing him to stumble backwards from the force. After falling back two steps, he fell down to the floor, landing on his rear. L covered his right eye with his right hand, went down to the floor on his left side, and curled up in a ball on the floor.

Ami shook her fist from the feeling of the punch, panted, and sank down to the floor against the doorframe. "I swear…oww…gah…" She stammered, reaching a hand behind her and laying it on her back.

Watari stood him, and helped Yagami to his feet. Yagami placed a hand on his stomach and groaned. "Ryuuzaki's a lot stronger than he looks…" He muttered.

"Will you be alright?" Watari asked politely, holding onto Yagami's arm.

Yagami sighed and pulled slightly from Watari. "Yeah, I'll be fine. But what happened?"

Watari just smiled slightly and nodded. Yagami returned to his seat on the couch, and Watari went into the kitchen.

Aizawa stood up and helped Matsuda to his feet. Matsuda put his left hand over his right shoulder. "Ahh…that hurt…" He whined. Aizawa helped Matsuda back to his chair, and went back for Matsuda's gun. Aizawa picked it up gingerly and left it on the table in front of Matsuda, who reached for it slowly and replaced it slowly in the holster under his coat. Aizawa went around behind the couch and started to reach for L to help him up.

"Leave him." Ami told him flatly, from the floor. "Leave him there a little longer. He'll get up on his own."

Still bent down, he turned and looked at her. "Eh. Okay." He stood back up and returned to the couch on the far side of the coffee table, sitting across from Yagami. He ruffled his hair and appeared confused.

Watari returned from the other room with several small tied bags of ice, one of which was wrapped in a dark green towel. Over the back of the couch he handed one to Yagami, who placed it on his abdomen. Stepping over L he handed one to Matsuda, and two to Ami, including the bag wrapped in a towel. Matsuda held his to his right side with his left arm under his right. Ami stood up and accepted the two bags. She took a step and bent down next to L.

"Would you _please_ get off the floor? You're making a scene still." She told him, annoyed. She then stood back up.

Without looking at her, L stood up and walked around behind the couch. His anger seemed to have abated suddenly. He returned the chair he had overturned to its upright position and hopped into it, pulling his knees up. He stuck his right arm out towards Ami, obviously wanting something. Ami walked around behind him, but ignored his reach, dropping the bag of ice with the towel on top of his head. L took it down with his right hand and held it to his face. Ami half-sat on the edge of the couch Yagami was on and held the other bag of ice to her back.

L ran his eyes over the team members. "I apologize for the rather sudden and violent intermission in the investigation." He told the room dully. "Is everyone ready to continue?"

However, the words seemed to have no effect, with everyone else either nursing wounds or in shock. Yagami looked up at Ami. "Who are…?" He started to ask.

L interrupted Yagami, and looked at him blankly. "Ami is a childhood friend of mine. She'll be assisting us on this investigation."

"F-friend?" Mastsuda stammered. "Is this how you treat your…"

The room looked at L. Ami cleared her throat and Matsuda stopped talking.

"Anyway…heh…yeah…" Ami let her voice trail off.

"Welcome home." Watari told her suddenly, stepping next to her.

"Eh, thanks." She replied quietly.

_Wow,_ she thought, _this has to be the worst first impression I've ever made…_

_**30 Minutes Later**_

Watari and Ami found themselves alone in the kitchen, with the chaos of her arrival having ended. Originally leaning over the counter, trying to spy on whatever Watari was cooking, she remembered she had business to clarify with him.

"Watari?"

"Hmm?" He asked, still occupied with a vanilla cake he was frosting.

"Wait, hold on." She told him suddenly. Ami pushed open the kitchen door slightly and peeked into the living room. L continued to talk about the investigation while the rest of the team sat quietly listening to him. Ami pulled back and let the door swing shut.

Ami returned to the island and started to fish in her purse, which she had set on the counter earlier. After a moment she removed a green pill bottle with a white doctor's label. One wouldn't have thought much of it except that it had no name on the label. Someone investigating the bottle would also have had to do some research to learn that in fact all of the information on the label was fabricated.

Ami set the bottle upright on the counter. "I had a hard time getting them this time. The doctor's not happy."

Watari looked up from his work and turned around. His slightly wrinkled right hand picked up the bottle, and he looked at it. "I would assume so."

"He wants to see Ryuuzaki in his office."

Watari pursed his lips. "How soon?"

Ami scoffed. "Like yesterday." She told him off-handedly.

"Hmm. I tried to get him to go, but he refuses to leave the country as long as the Kira investigation is open." He replied, and started to open the bottle. He spun off the screw-on cap and set it on the counter. He closed his left eye and eyed the inside of the bottle with his right.

"How long does he have left on that unit?" Ami asked him seriously.

Watari opened both eyes and looked up at her. "Six months, assuming he doesn't push himself too hard."

Ami sighed, recalled the evening's events. "I don't see that happening."

Watari gave a slight nod and put the bottle down on the counter. "Neither do I."

Ami flipped around and leaned her back on the counter. "Well, hopefully those will help."

"You know he still refuses to take pills. Did you mention…?"

Ami interrupted him. "The doctor said it's okay to open them and put the medication in his food. We just have to make sure he either drinks or eats all of whatever it's in. It won't be _quite_ as effective, but the doctor adjusted the dosage size for someone who weighs more than him to compensate."

Watari turned back to the stove area and picked up a hot cup of black tea on a saucer, then turned and set it on the island. He picked up the pill bottle and shook one of the pills loose from the bottle. Holding it over the cup, he twisted the two sides and pulled them apart, dumping the contents into the tea. He finished the procedure by picking up the cup and swirling it once counterclock-wise, then returning it to the saucer.

"How long before he's asleep?"

"Hmm." Ami thought, trying to remember what the doctor's instructions had been. "I think he said between two and three hours, depending on what else he's had to eat and drink today."

Watari gave a nod and picked up the cup. He stepped around the right of the island and went to the door. He pushed open the kitchen door and went into the living room, leaving Ami with only her thoughts.

She shook her head._ I don't like the look of things already_, she realized.

_**Next Chapter:**_  
"Ami spins a story of past pains and mistrust."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:** _There's a Child-like in Her, Too_

"_The blessed virgin in her proud Dad's eye  
The albatross hangin' round your neck  
Is the cross you bare for your sins he bleeds…  
Rebels are we, though heavy our hearts shall always be  
Ah, no ball or chain no prison shall keep  
We're the rebels of the sacred heart…"_

- "Rebels of the Sacred Heart," _Flogging Molly_

_**Two Hours Later**_

"Do you really think sixty-four camera and microphones in my home is really necessary, Ryuuzaki?" Yagami asked. He appeared tired and ready to call the investigation done for the day. He removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

L looked at him slightly confused. "As I said, only when we can see everything that goes on can anyone be cleared in this investigation. Though even I will admit it's not a flawless plan because I can't see what's going on outside of the house."

Matsuda appeared visibly troubled. "But L…Ryuuzaki, Yagami has a daughter…and his wife, I mean, what about you…watching them."

L looked up at him, but did not get a chance to respond.

Yagami nodded, "I admit this isn't something I want to do, but I believe that Ryuuzaki is right in this instance. I trust that he will be doing this with the best intentions in mind."

Ami, sitting on Yagami's left spoke up. She turned to him. "If it makes you feel any better, Yagami-san, I will be the primary watcher on your daughter and wife's movements in the house."

Yagami turned to her, seeming mildly relieved. "Yes, actually, that does make me feel a bit better about this. But won't that take a considerable amount of your time? I presume this isn't all you are doing here while in Japan."

Ami gave a light snort. "Don't concern yourself with me with regards to this. Worry about your family." She paused. "We _all_ have things at stake with the Kira case."

He gave her a light nod and turned back to L.

_Besides,_ she thought, _it's not like I can leave L to watch them. People seem to get the wrong impression about his…level of self-control._

"Ryuuzaki?" Ami heard Aizawa ask, breaking off her thoughts.

L was rubbing his eyes. "I apologize, I'm not feeling…as alert as I should be." He replied quietly.

Ami looked up at him. "You look beat. How many days have you been awake?"

"Just…two." He yawned.

"I think we should call it a night." Yagami announced. "It' already after midnight, and I'd rather get an early start."

"Ay." Aizawa replied, and stood up.

"Eh, I'm actually not finished…" L started to protest.

"Oh yes you are," Ami instructed. "You're obviously more tired than any of the rest of us." Being told by Ami seemed to silence him and stopped protesting for the moment.

Watari entered the living room from the kitchen. "Will there be anything else this evening? If not I am going to bid you all a goodnight."

Yagami turned to him. "I think we'll be good. Thank you."

Watari gave them a slight bow, and headed for the main door. He opened it quietly and let himself out. Matsuda followed him and dead-bolted the door behind him. He then returned to the living room area and took a blanket that had been laying on the back of the chair he had been sitting in. He went behind the couch Yagami and Ami were sitting on and lay down on the floor. Ami stood up and allowed Yagami to stretch out on the couch. While Aizawa stretched out on his couch, Ami hunted for a blanket. Upon finding one in a chair on the other side of the room, she returned to the couches and handed it to Aizawa. He looked up at her. "What about you?" he asked.

She sighed. "I'm not really tired. I've still got jet leg from the flight from London."

"Ah." He accepted the blanket and used it to cover himself.

Ami wandered over to L who seemed to have stopped fighting the urge to stay awake. He slouched against the inside of the chair. "Givin' up, hmm?" She asked quietly while bending down to him.

He looked up at her, annoyed. "What did you put on my tea?"

She smoothed his hair and he shut his eyes. "You're observant. Its doctor's orders. You need to sleep more."

Too tired to complain, he didn't argue, and laid still.

Ami stood back up and noticed something in a chair across the room. It was set up in front of a row of computer monitors. She walked over and picked up a square, brown leather wallet. "Dang it, Ryu, leaving your crap everywhere." She muttered. Without much forethought she opened it and started to thumb through it. "Money…money…geez, how much cash is he carrying nowadays?" She muttered.

Matsuda looked up from the floor. "What are you doing?" He asked quietly.

She ignored him. "Waa, I can't believe he still has this!" She exclaimed slightly too loud.

Yagami sat up and looked over the back of the couch, while Aizawa sat up. "Has what?" Yagami asked sleepily, and rubbed his eyes.

Ami pulled out a yellowed newspaper clipping and shut the wallet. She walked to the couch and stood behind Yagami. "British Junior Champion Collapses on Court…" She read aloud quietly.

Matsuda sat up and Ami acknowledged him finally. She sat down cross-legged on the floor next to him. "Hehe…want to hear a story about Ryuuzaki?" She asked him child-like, and then paused. "Consider it payment for him hurting you guys and not apologizing."

"I wouldn't mind having a little insight into his character." Yagami quipped. "Especially considering he never talks about himself...just everyone else." He shifted himself to the right-hand side of the couch, while Matsuda came around from the back and sat on left. Ami opted to sit on the coffee table in front of L, leaving the wallet sitting in the middle in front of her. Deciding against sleep at the moment Aizawa sat up and handed the blanket back to Ami. She turned around and tossed it over L, who was sleeping quietly.

"Won't you wake him up?" asked Matsuda.

Ami ruffled L's hair, then smoothed it back. "Nope. He's out cold." She turned back to the group.

Yagami appeared confused. "You treat him like he's a little kid."

"Heh, in many ways he is." She replied with a smile. "But then again, being an adult can be overrated. I _still_ don't think I'm an adult, I guess. Anyway…" She started.

_**Next Chapter:**_  
"L and Ami's past, part one."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:** _My Independence Saves Me from You_

"_Visiting hours are 9 to 5 and if I show up at 10 past 6  
Well I already know that you'd find some way to sneak me in and oh  
Mind the empty bottle with the holes along the bottom  
You see it's too much to ask for and I am not the doctor…"_

- "Not the Doctor," Alanis Morissette

_**Spring of 1995**_

"Hey, when are you goin' back to China-town, Asian?" a teenage boy yelled in a narrow cobblestone street.

Amy Hardock, age seventeen, and a junior at the local secondary school, was not fazed by such questions. "When are you going to realize that I'm not Chinese, you dolt?" Amy yelled back. She stood around twenty feet down the alley from the boy, who rapidly caught up to her. His dark brown eyes and hair were offset by his maroon sweater and white collared shirt. Amy's loafers made a clacking noise on the stones, making her well aware of the school uniform. The uniform was a maroon and _burnt orange_, with a plaid skirt in those colors for the woman. Amy thought the colors did not do her _mulatto_ complexion any good.

The man caught up to her. "Sorry Ms. Hardock, I should be more respectable of your mixed heritage." He told her sarcastically, adding a slight bow to the end.

Amy sighed. "Stop mocking me, jerk."

"Heh, okay." He told her. "I'll stop. For a while." He suddenly changed subjects. "Are you going home right away?"

They walked along the alley together. "Yeah, Ryuuga had a match today and I want to see how it went."

He chuckled. "You two are really a couple of misfits aren't you?"

"Shut up. You're just jealous because he's smarter than you." Amy scoffed.

The man was taken a back. "Jealous? Of that…"

Amy cut him off. "Watch it. He can kick your ass the last time I checked."

They had arrived at a row of brownstones, and Amy walked up the steps to the front door of one. "You didn't have to walk me home, you know."

The man scratched the back of his head and looked at the pavement. "I know. I think its just habit now."

Amy took out her keys from her backpack and unlocked the wooden front door. "Alright, well, I'll talk to you later, Jack."

He looked up at her and took his hand down. "Uh, yeah, okay. See you tomorrow, Amy." He turned away and started to walk down the street in the direction they had come.

Amy entered the house and shut the door behind her._ I wish I knew why he scratches his head like that. You'd think he has lice or something._

She leaned against the door. "Ryu, you home yet?" she yelled.

Silence.

"Guess not." Amy headed for the kitchen. His textbooks were sitting on the kitchen table. "That's not right." She remarked picking up the one on top – Calculus, Level III. _He wouldn't have left these out all day…Jonathan wouldn't have let him. The match was an early-morning match, so he would have used these when he came home. Does this mean he didn't come home from the match?_ She returned the book to the pile.

Amy looked around the kitchen. Nothing seemed much disturbed since she had left for school this morning. She headed into the living room. The daily newspaper sat on the couch, still in its plastic bag. _It never got read._ _Oh well, if they aren't home, its not like I can do anything about it. I just wish they wouldn't take off randomly though._

Amy rounded the couch and sat in front of the TV. She looked under a back cushion to her left and found the TV remote. L routinely hid it, though it always seemed to be in the same spot. She pointed it at the TV and turned it on. After flipping through a music channel and some cooking show, she stopped at a sports channel broadcasting a story on tennis. The male announcer seemed solemn, and Amy assumed it was not a positive story. _Someone probably got caught doing something illegal…_Amy debated.

"So the latest on his condition is unknown, though by witness accounts, it would appear to have been some sort of heart condition." The screen split into two and a second on-the-scene announcer appeared on the right. The first announcer continued. "Does this seem to be accurate, Raymond?" he asked.

The second announcer gave a slight nod. "That's correct Alfred. It appears that he collapsed on the court in the second round of the match after grasping at his chest. It seems odd to see a heart condition in someone so young, but it's possible it was a congenital defect that was missed in the past."

"So that would mean he was born with it but it was not active until now?" Alfred asked.

"That's correct." Raymond replied. He appeared proud his ability to use the word "congenital" properly and he puffed his chest slightly.

_Something's weird._ Amy realized.

"Alfred, do we have any video from this morning?"

"Yes, actually, but with so much chaos and so many people at the event, the camera work was a tad shaky. But let's watch…"

The screen filled with video from a tennis match. Despite the camera's shaking, Amy was able to discern that what she had been thinking was true.

"Oh good lord, no…" Amy started. She jumped off the couch.

She ran to the kitchen and removed the phone's receiver from the base. She pushed zero, and listened for the operator to come on. "City Please." A female operator asked.

Amy found herself stuttering. "Lon..London. ITN News Studios."

"One moment, please."

It was a long moment.

"We're sorry, you will have to be more specific with regards to this location."

_Damn!_ She hung up and ran back to the living room to check the TV. It was on Channel Four. She ran back to the phone and repeated the process.

"City Please."

She found herself calmer, likely a result of being annoyed at the phone. "London. I don't know the district though."

"Location?"

"I-T-N, Channel Four News Studios."

"Thank you." The operator put her on hold, and then returned with the phone number. Amy elected to be automatically connected, despite the charge.

A man came on the line. "Channel Four Studios, how can I help you?"

Amy tried to keep her nerves together. "Hello, this is with regards to the story about the tennis player who collapsed on the court earlier today."

He seemed friendly enough. "Okay, what can I help you with?"

"I'm trying to find out what hospital he was taken to, I'm a family member. I missed most of the original broadcast and I can't reach my relatives."

"Oh, okay, let me find the papers on the story." The phone clicked and Amy went to hold. _More waiting..._

The man returned to the line. "Okay, it seems on the last report he was taken to the U-C-L-H Heart Hospital. Do you know where that it?"

Amy was drawing a blank. "I can't remember offhand. Where is it, again?"

He seemed to be reading from a prepared sheet. "Sixteen through eighteen Westmoreland Street. Think you can find it?"

"I'll take a taxi I guess, they'll know."

"Alright then, is there anything else?" He asked. Amy noticed sympathy in his voice.

"No, I think I'll be good."

"Oh!" the man suddenly said. "Would you be willing to add to the news story if you find out anything?"

Amy thought for a brief second. "Uh, I dunno, I'll have to see. Okay?"

"No problem, have a good day." He told her, and then hung up.

Amy held the phone in a hand for a moment, and then slowly put it back. Everything seems so strange. _Why? Why him, why now? Why can't things just… She shook her head. Gotta focus. _She picked up the phone again, and called the operator one more time. "City please?"

"London, Westminster."

"Location?"

"Green Line Taxi Service. Please connect me directly."

"Thank you."

The line clicked and the taxi company picked up. "Green Line Taxi Service."

"Hello, I need a taxi. I need to go to U-C-L-H Heart Hospital."

Amy could hear a pencil scratching on paper. "Alright, it'll be about 25 minutes."

Amy sighed. "Nothing sooner?"

"Sorry ma'am, we're backed up, its prime time. Address?"

Amy gave him the address of the brownstone, and then told him she'd be out front. They exchanged goodbyes, and then Amy hung up. Amy returned to the entryway and picked up her backpack. She hunted for her wallet in the bag and found her wallet. She figured she would have enough, but considering it was an emergency, he might give her a deal. She replaced her wallet and slung the bag over her shoulder. Picking her keys up off of the floor, she opened the brownstone's front door and headed out the door to wait on the steps.

**_Next Chapter:_**  
"Ami confronts Jonathan on England and L."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five:** _Minding Someone Else's Business Practices_

"_No apologies ever need be made, I know you better than you fake it  
To see that we don't even care to shake these zipper blues  
And we don't know just where our bones will rest  
To dust I guess…"_

- "1979," _Smashing Pumpkins_

_**Forty-five Minutes Later **_

As a green and white taxi pulled up to the main guest entrance of UCLH Heart Hospital, its driver with his thick black mustache turned around to his passenger. "This is your stop." He announced.

Ami looked up at him. She hadn't realized the hospital was as close to the brownstone as it was. She felt somewhat foolish for calling and waiting for a taxi. _I could have walked to the hospital during the wait._ She fished for her wallet in her backpack, and pulled out her wallet. "How much do I owe you?"

He told her, and she handed him her notes. _Cut that one close,_ she realized.

Ami scrambled out of the taxi and shut the door. She gave the driver a little nod and he pulled away from the curb. As she walked towards the sliding front doors, Ami's eyes fell over the brass name plate on a pillar of the building, causing her to halt. People rushed about her, but she felt oblivious to the commotion.

_He didn't call me at school. Jonathan didn't want me to know he's here. _

Amy balled her fists, and rage began to build within her. "He didn't want me to know. L could be dead, right now, and Jonathan didn't want me to know." She muttered. The more she contemplated the situation, the worse it seemed. _Is he even still here?_ She covered her face with her hands. _No, I'm not going to let him get to me like this. _

Ami put down her hands and approached the doors. They slid open with a slight swish, and Ami had to avoid a group of three older women exiting as she tried to enter. She went up to the circular reception desk and gave the wooden desk three quick taps. A nurse, a blond woman in her mid-30s, looked up from her computer. "Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for a patient who was brought in earlier. I'm a family member."

She tapped several keys on the computer's keyboard. "Name?"

"Hideki, Ryuuga."

She pressed several more keys. "He's logged as 'currently in surgery,' but there's a waiting area on the third floor that you can wait at until he's moved into the ICU."

Ami scowled. "How long has he been in surgery?"

The nurse stared at the monitor. "It looks like…two hours? I think it's a five-hour procedure."

Ami grew frustrated at having to ask so many questions to gain such small amounts of information. "Does it list what he's having done?"

"It says…'pacemaker instillation.' Abnormal heart rhythm I suppose. I heard he collapsed on a tennis court. Must have had a heart att…"

Ami cut her off by suddenly leaving. She stormed to the elevators to the right of the desk and stabbed the "UP" arrow with her right index finger. "Jonathan, you are so dead. How dare you not call me." She mumbled.

The elevator arrived, and to Ami's relief it was empty. She entered and pressed the third floor button. She ruffled the chin-length hair hanging around her face. _It's been such a long day._

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. As she exited Ami made note of a sign hanging on the adjacent wall. A white arrow with the words "Waiting Area B" pointed towards the right. Ami turned in the arrows' direction and saw Jonathan sitting in a chair in a row along the right-hand wall. Ami stormed up the chairs, and as she approached, the 35 year old blond and brown-suited man stood up.

"How dare you not call me!" Ami yelled at him, while pushing him in the chest for added effect.

Jonathan grabbed her arms, restricting her movement. "There was nothing you could have done." He told her flatly.

"I had to find out from the news!" She retorted, twisting to break free of his grip. After a moment he released her. "Did you do this on purpose?" She asked, huffing. "What happened this morning? Why did he not go into surgery right away? Tell me…something, okay?"

He grabbed her arms again, and shook her. "Stop it, you're being ridiculous."

Ami sank in her spot and Jonathan released her again.

"You need to know that I've sent a request to have Ryuuga sent back to Japan upon his stabilization."

It took a moment for it to sink in with Ami. "I don't understand," she said without much forethought. "Where's he going?"

Jonathan straightened himself and smoothed his gold tie. "I've requested that Ryuuga be sent back to Japan. He's no longer a candidate for the tennis circuit, so I see no reason to keep him here any longer."

Ami stopped moving. "We're going back to Japan? This is kinda sudden." She told him, confused.

"I am not asking for a transfer for you. I think it's best if you remain here in London."

It was a blow that even Ami wasn't prepared for. "What?! You're leaving me here?" Ami shuffled her backpack down to her hands and swung it at Jonathan, striking him at midlevel.

He doubled over slightly from the initial hit, and then fell back a step before she could hit him again. "There's…there's no reason for you to. You…" He stood upright. "You only have a year of high school left, and you seem to be far more independent than even I expected. I think you can survive fine on your own. Haven't you already been accepted at a school in England?"

Ami put down her bag and sat down in one of the chairs along the wall. She couldn't argue with his point. Leaving England now wasn't the best move, at least when she considered those reasons.

Jonathan grew stoic. "Regardless, I have questions regarding Ryuuga's potential. I'm currently under the impression that he hasn't been able to reach his full mental potential while under your shadow."

It was all Ami could take. She stood up and grabbed her bag, and started back towards the elevator. "We'll see what Watari has to say about all of this. I think you're overstepping your bounds on this one."

"This was Watari's idea. Regardless, you're almost eighteen anyway, the orphanage is under no obligation to supply you aid after that point."

Ami stopped. "You're lying to me. Watari would never do this to me."

"You really think you're that special don't you?"

Ami clenched her fists. _I'm running into walls with thi_s.

"You should know, as soon as he's stable, Ryuuga's being meda-vac-ed back to Japan. Whether you come back to the hospital between now and then is your decision."

She turned around and stared at him. "I want to tell him. If I don't he'll be mad at Watari for this." Her expression darkened. "I do need a promise from you on this, though."

"What?"

"I want to be able to write him. If you cut off contact between the two of us, I'll know right away."

"Fine. You have a deal."

Ami turned away, and she failed to miss his smirking.

_**Forty-eight Hours Later**_

Having returned to the same hallway that she had encountered Jonathan in two days earlier, she knocked on room 3408. Following a brief stay in the intensive care unit, L had been moved to a private room. Not hearing a reply to her knocking, Ami opened the door slowly and looked in.

"Hello?"

L lay in a hospital bed in the middle of the room, with various monitors routinely checking his sedation and heart rate. To her disappointment, she found Jonathan sitting in a chair to the right of the bed reading. _What is this? He set me up._

Ami walked over to the side of the bed opposite Jonathan and ruffled L's hair. He seemed to be awake, but still under mild sedation. "Anyone in there?" She teased.

He turned to her but his eyes seemed vacant. "Ami? Where have you been?"

If I tell him about the fight with Jonathan, I'm screwed.

"Things have been kinda crazy since you've been hurt. I'm sorry I haven't been able to see you sooner." She looked up and eyed Jonathan, darkly. He didn't respond, and continued to read the newspaper he had brought with him.

"You need to know something."

He stared at her.

"After you're well enough, you're being sent back to Japan."

More staring.

"I'm not going with you. I'm going to be staying in England."

Jonathan looked up at Ami over his newspaper and Ami caught his glance. _This is what he wanted me to do, and he showed to make sure I did it how he wanted._

L became mildly responsive. "You're abandoning me."

It seemed to be a childish response to Ami, but she was able to understand his point. "I…don't really want…to leave." She told him. The words were bitter, even to her.

He turned away from her. "Leave me alone then."

Ami had known the words were coming, but she still was unprepared for them. "Alright. I figured you'd be upset. That's why I waited to come and tell you." She stepped back from the bed and turned away. She changed her mind then, and eyed Jonathan. He was looking up at her, smirking. _I don't know what you're going to get out of this, but this isn't over._

Having had enough, Ami quietly left the room, and shut the door behind her.

Ami eyed the team, who seemed to have been listening well since she had started talking. Matsuda cocked his head to the side. "So, did you two keep in contact? You must have."

Ami eyed him wearily. "I did write him. I received a reply to my first letter." She looked at L, who continued to sleep quietly. "He told me he had known that it wasn't my idea. He was powerless in the situation and played along. But that was the last letter I got. I wrote him a number of times over the next year, but I never received any replies. I still don't know what happened to those letters."

"So Jonathan was blocking your communication?" asked Yagami, shifting in his seat.

Ami inadvertently mirrored his actions and shifted on the table. "It would appear that way. I was allowed to stay in the house until after graduation, and then I went on to Bath Spa, then the United States to study at N-Y-U. After I received my Masters in Psych, I finally had the chance to return to Japan. I had received an offer to attend the University of Tokyo. But I have yet to make it there."

Aizawa looked at her confused. "What do you mean?"

"That was last November, and that a whole 'nother story."

Yagami laughed quietly. "We're not going to get to sleep tonight are we?"

Ami grinned. "Not if you want to hear the interesting part."

"Alright, so what happened last November?"

"Well…" Ami started.

_**Next Chapter:**_  
"Ami returns to Japan, and the confrontation with Jonathan."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: **_His Social Faults Are Your Fault, Part 1_

"_Hit a lot of curves, hard roads and hills  
Got nerves of steel and watch time stand still  
It took too long but I stood my height  
You could say I'm wrong but you ain't right…"_

- "I'm Wrong But You Ain't Right," Kid Rock

_**November 16**__**th**__**, 2006**_

Surrounded by moving boxes and the occasional garbage bag, Ami was in the mist of her finally preparations before returning to Japan. At nearly fifteen years though, Japan hardly felt like home anymore. She didn't really know where home was, in fact, having lived in two countries in less than seven years.

_Bzzz. _The front door buzzer went off.

Tripping over a box of old textbooks, Ami hobbled over to the buzzer box beside the apartment door. She pushed the button. "Yes?"

"Registered mail, you need to come and sign for it." A man on the other end told her.

"I'll be right down."

Ami left the apartment, not shutting the door completely behind her. I have no idea where my keys are in this mess. She went down to the front door and opened it. The mail carrier was waiting for her with a small brown envelope. A man in his late thirties, he always seemed to dote on Ami with regards to the mail. "So, I guess this'll be the last time I bring you the mail, hmm?"

Ami was absorbed with the letter. _It's registered to a post box in Japan. _

Reality reentered Ami's frame of reference. "Oh, um, I'm not sure, I'm not leaving until the twenty-first. Umm…it's a tad cold out here, can I sign for it?"

There was a slight bit of relief in his face, to Ami's discomfort. "Alrighty then. Anyway, sign here." He handed her a small clipboard with a pen chained to it. Ami signed her name on line number eight, and handed it back to him.

He gave her a quick nod, and stepped back off the apartment steps. "Have a good day."

Ami returned to staring at the envelope. "You too." She told him off-handedly. She sat down on the top landing step and turned the envelope over. Ripping open the pull tab, a smaller, light beige envelope could be seen. Ami pulled it out and ripped open the back flap. Inside was a handwritten letter from a friend of the family living in Japan:

_ Ami-san –_

_I am writing to you because I am not sure if you have heard the news. Your uncle Aikio was killed in a car crash last week. As I'm sure you know, your aunt Himiko is still hospitalized, so their son – your cousin Nia – has been sent to an orphanage in Tokyo. I do not have any more information on it at this time, but I was told to tell you to expect a phone call regarding it when you return to Japan in a few days._

_ - Your Friend, Kimi-san_

_How does she know that I'm returning to Japan?_ Ami wondered. _This is suspicious, but I can't really do anything about that. It's too close to my time to leave…and I don't have her number so I can't even call her…_

Ami folded the letter back and replaced it in the beige envelope. She tossed the brown envelope in a trashcan sitting next to the apartment front door. She opted to return to the apartment to finish packing, unsure of what else to do about the letter.

_**November 18**__**th,**__** 4:30 pm **_

Taking a break from finalizing her packing, Ami was startled awake from a nap by the phone. After locating the phone under an empty plastic bag, she picked it up and answered.

"You have a collect call from Japan. Will accept the charges?" It was the operator.

"Hmm? Um, yeah, okay." _It's probably Kimi-san._

A man's voice came on the light, slightly distorted by the distance. "Ami? It's Watari."

Ami stopped moving and gathered her senses. "Watari? Why are you calling?"

"I need to see you upon your return. It's important."

What is this about? How does he know too?

"How important?" Ami asked suspiciously.

"Very."

She had the urge to ask him about Nia, but that could raise questions she wasn't prepared to answer. _The chance of him being in Watari's orphanage is slim at best, right?_

Anger stirred within Ami. "I'll see you when I return. I have something to discuss with you anyway."

"Alright, I will see you soon." He told her quietly. The line clicked, and he hung up.

Ami put the phone back into the receiver. _Now what…?_

_**November 22**__**nd, **__**Mid-morning**_

Disembarking from her US Airways flight at the South Wing of Terminal One, Ami received a less-than-surprising visitor at the Narita Airport while retrieving her bags from the luggage carousel.

"What are doing here Watari?" Ami asked the well-dressed man in black behind her to the right. She heaved a large red bag, but struggled to remove it from the rotating platform. Watari lent her a hand and pulled the bag down.

He straightened up. "I told you we needed to meet."

Ami up-righted the bag and stared to pull it towards the area's exit. "I figured I would be making an appointment or something. Something formal."

Watari walked behind her. "Your cousin Nia is staying at the orphanage in Rinzo."

She shook her head but kept walking. "I had a hunch, but I figured I was just being paranoid about him being in your custody."

Watari stopped. "I don't understand why that's a problem. It's the best place for him."

Ami stopped, but continued to face away. "Just because I don't think about it everyday, doesn't mean I don't remember." She looked at him over her right shoulder briefly, and then kept walking.

Watari continued to follow her. "That's something else we need to discuss."

She stopped again, realizing she had nothing to add to the conversation, went on. The rest of the walk to the airport's parking structure was spent in silence, with Ami fuming and Watari following her in silence. Ami was surprised to see the old, black Bentley in the lot, looking no different then she remembered.

Ami's attitude started to soften as she stopped at the car. "It really does look like I rode in it yesterday."

Watari stepped around her, and opened the door for her. He took her bag from her hands and went around the back of the car. Ami stood looking in at the backseat of the car as the trunk clicked open. She listened to the thud of the bag being heaved into the trunk, and then the trunk latching shut.

_Once I get into this car, I can't go back, can I?_

Watari stepped up behind her. "Shall we?"

Ami continued to stand there, staring. "I'll go. I'll go with you to the orphanage now. My things won't arrive at my new place for at least 24 hours anyway."

"Good to know. You're welcome to stay at the orphanage in the meanwhile." He told her, and then opened the driver's side door and got in.

Ami finally conceded and got into the car, setting her purse in her lap. They drove for several minutes in silence.

Ami had to ask. "What is it you're not telling me? What's so bad that this couldn't wait until I was settled?"

"I think its best we wait until we arrive in Rinzo to discuss this." He replied.

Ami watched the scenery spin by outside of the car. _Things seem different, yet the same,_ she realized.

Watari parked the Bentley in front of the Gothic-styled orphanage, and Ami opened the door. Getting out, the area felt different from when she was here last. A dark feeling fell over her, but couldn't determine exactly why.

"If you have your purse, I'll leave the large bag in the car and get it out later, if that is okay." Watari asked her, standing at her left.

"Oh. Oh yeah, that's fine." She replied. They walked up the half-dozen stone stairs to the orphanage's front door. He led her down several heavily-wooden paneled hallways, finally arriving at a door labeled "Office." Watari removed a set of keys from his right pants pocket and unlocked the door.

Ami's fourteen year old nephew Nia sat in far corner on their right. He appeared to be arranging cards into a house-like structure on a low table. While Watari went to sit behind the oversized wooden desk at their left, Ami approached Nia, bending down slightly. "Do you remember me? It's been quite a long time since we've seen each other."

The fair-haired young man looked up at her. "Hi Ami, Watari said you'd be coming."

Ami tussled his hair and he went back to his cards. "I'm kinda surprised you remember…" _But nothing else seems to make sense right now, either…_ She turned to Watari and approached the desk. "He looks so much like his father, it's scary." _But I know someone else who used to do that with cards…_

Watari folded his hands and his manner grew serious. "I need you to remember what happened when you and L parted ways."

Ami furled her brow. "I already told you I haven't forgotten, I just prefer to block it out."

"I need you to know that I wasn't in Tokyo when those plans were made, I wasn't even in the country at the time…"

Ami cut him off. "Are you denying that you made those plans?"

"I won't deny that I went along with them, but no, I wasn't the one who came up with them. I was going on what I thought was sound medical advice for the time."

Ami was taken aback. "For the time?"

"Yes, and I am very sorry that your life was interrupted because of it. It was never my intention to leave you in England for such a long period of time."

Ami looked down, then back up at him. "You didn't do this just to apologize to me. That seems silly."

Watari sighed. "Ami, there was something about L's character that we missed, and it was how he was influenced by you and his interaction with you."

Ami squeezed the handle of her purse. "What's going on Watari? First Jonathan lies to me…and now you want what…something, right?"

A knock was heard at the door, Jonathan entered, with L behind him. Ami shot a glance to the two entering, then back at Watari. "What is this? Are you still playing games with us?"

L moved from behind Jonathan and moved to a chair sitting to the right of Watari's desk near a plate-glass window. He sat with his knees up and his chest, with his hands on his knees. Something outside of the window caught his eye and he sat staring. Even though he had aged ten years, something about him seemed to have not. _There's something wrong here…_

Ami watched L. "What is this Watari? Does he not remember me?"

Watari and Jonathan exchanged glances.

Ami stepped up to the desk and slammed her right hand down on it. "Tell me! Tell me what's going on!" Ami looked at Jonathan, then back at Watari. She pointed at the former. "And what's he doing here? Isn't he supposed to be watching the orphanage in Heathrow?"

Jonathan smoothed his tie. "Don't worry about me." He told her flatly.

Watari inhaled deeply and then signed. "L needs your help, as do I."

Ami's eyes grew large. "You're asking for a favor? Now?!" She backed up a couple of steps. "What is it…what do you two want from me…it's been _ten years_…"

Watari looked sullen. "I'll explain it to you, but you'll need to calm down."

Ami tried to cool her anger. "Fine. What is it…?"

_**Next Chapter:**_  
"Ami's Return, Part 2."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven:** _His Social Faults Are Your Fault, Part 2_

"_I've seen your face somewhere before I swear  
Could it be I've met you somewhere else…?  
It's the way you turn and look at me  
Your eyes are different but they're much the same…"_

- "Somewhere," _Default_

"I still want to know what he's doing here, Watari." Ami demanded, pointing once again at Jonathan.

Jonathan denied her an answer again. "You're here to help us make plans for L. I'm only here temporarily."

She eyed him. "What do you mean, make plans?"

Watari sighed. "You're well aware Jonathan and I are getting on in our years. We need to have something in place, in case of the unexpected."

Ami looked at him. "What, you want to write a will or something?"

"That's already been taken care of. This is isn't about me, remember?"

Jonathan had no desire to mince words. "L can't take of himself…independently, and he can't be left in charge of his assists."

Ami was confused. "I don't get it. He's almost thirty. What do you mean he can't take of himself?" _This is creepy, talking like this about someone else in the room…_

Watari redirected the conversation back to himself. "Are you aware of L's role in the Kira investigation?"

Ami shook her head slightly. "Only bits and pieces are being broadcast in the States. I think the media's afraid of mass panic. Why?"

Watari gave her a nod. "We want you to be involved in the investigation."

She tried to put the pieces together – there seemed to be two issues being raised at the same time. "What does the Kira investigation have to do with L not being able to take care of himself?"

"If something should happen to Watari during the investigation, we need someone who's…going to be able to…stay with him. On a permanent basis." Jonathan told her coolly.

Watari tried to soften the situation. "He's not…healthy. You know that." He sighed. "Ami, he's not socially independent enough to live on his own."

"Wait…" Ami gave a dark laugh. "You called me back here to play nursemaid? For a situation that may not even happen?" She laughed and shook her head. "Oh no, this isn't gonna happen. You're not getting a favor from me." She looked at Jonathan. "Especially you, Jonny-boy. You already owe me."

"I admit I made a mistake cutting you off from him. He's still a productive member of society; he just doesn't do well _in_ society." Jonathan rebutted.

Ami turned away and walked back over to Nia. She knelt down and noticed he had rebuilt the card house in a different configuration. She smiled at him, but he continued to work quietly. "Nia reminds me of L when we were younger. It kinda makes me sad to see it." She stood up and walked over to L, who continued to stare out of the window, seemingly oblivious to the chaos in the room. She touched his right shoulder and he cringed suddenly. He grabbed his legs with his hands, and buried his head in his knees. His voice shook. "Don't. Don't touch me."

Ami backed up in horror, and then turned to the others. "Is this your idea of 'full potential'? Look what you've allowed him to become!" She announced.

"Ami…" Watari told her quietly. "He was probably always like this…no one saw it in him before, not until you were gone. We need you to help us, help him."

Ami clenched her fists and stared at the floor. "No…this is your mess…you fix it…You two did this…" Ami looked up at glared at Jonathan, and then pointed at him. "This…this is your fault. _You _did this! _You_ fix it! I have my own life now!"

Watari stood up suddenly and his voice roared. "AMI! Stop this! _Right_ now!"

_How?! How do I stop this…?_

She sat down on the floor on her knees. "Watari…I…can't just stop everything I'm doing. I'm…starting school again…" She sighed.

Watari sat back down. "I'm afraid we need you to put your plans for schooling on hold."

Ami breathed heavily. She looked up at him from the floor. "You do realize, I could just say no and walk out of this place?"

Jonathan scoffed. "You wouldn't do that to your cousin, would you?"

Ami turned and went up on one knee. "What?"

"The orphanage is providing the same type of education L was provided. Free of charge. We could easily send him back to the group home."

Ami stood and ran at him, pushing him back. The movement caught L's eye, and he turned at looked at them. "You! You're some sort of monster!" She told him.

"Jonathan! Enough of that!" Watari yelled. Ami stopped moving and turned back to Watari. "If you help us, we will make sure that Nia receives the care and education he deserves. He's special, and he needs it. But only you can guarantee that in this deal." He opened a narrow drawer in the middle of the desk and pulled out a set of car keys. "This is for you, as a…method of repayment for what has happened in the past. I can't fix what has happened, but I can try to make amends." He tossed the pair of keys on the desk's blotter.

Ami picked them up and found a script letter L on one and a raging bull on the other. She clenched them. _I know that Watari didn't do this…what do I do…? _She opened her hand and looked at them. "You're exchanging my companionship to L for a car? Is that what this is?"

"I will also make sure you have proper room and board, regardless of where the two of you are living. Now and in the future. Money will no longer be a concern for you. But Ami, I know that you wouldn't turn your back on him. The car is just…"

"Hmm. I almost wish I was getting that deal." Jonathan scoffed, cutting off Watari.

Ami looked at him in disgust. _I've had it…_ She unzipped her purse and stuffed the keys into it, then zipped it back. "I need to get out of this room." She told them, avoiding Jonathan and Watari's eyes. Ami walked to the door, opened it, and walked out. She shut it behind her, and while holding onto the door knob tried to gather her wits. She took a half-dozen steps and heard the door reopen behind her.

She heard L's quiet voice. "Ami?"

Ami turned around. Shutting the door behind him, she noticed he was a ruffled and wrinkled mess. His green cargo pants and white sweatshirt looked a size too big, and his hair looked unbrushed. He wore tennis shoes, but they were dirty and untied. With his hands in his pockets, L stood awkwardly in the narrow stone and paneled hallway. They stood in silence for a moment.

Ami broke the quiet first. "You seem…different." She smiled sadly. "You don't seem to be the same guy I used to catch playing tennis at all hours." _Huh? That sounded stupid._

He watched her closely for a moment, and then appeared distracted by something outside a nearby window. "I suppose I'm not." He said quietly.

Ami felt her mood sadden. _L, what happened to you…? You used to look happy._

He continued to watch out the window. "I have missed you, no matter what Jonathan may tell you." L looked back at her, his gaze open yet highly reserved.

Ami looked away, his look somewhat cold and disturbing, yet familar. She felt her will crumbling. _They got me…on all fronts._

"Fine. I'll do it. I'll help you catch Kira…or whatever." She shook her head, and then looked up at him. "But this isn't over between me and Jonny."

"I assumed it wasn't." He told her, looking back out the window. His voice was cool and flat. "I'm unhappy with the way all of this was handled. Bribes and blackmail."

He turned away and took the door handle with his right hand.

"L?"

He looked back at her. "Hmm?"

Ami cocked her head to the side and looked away. "Was this…all of your idea…?"

"No. I never would have bribed you." He paused, then looked at the floor. "I have to run something past Watari, excuse me." He told her flatly, and then reentered the office, shutting the door behind him.

Ami walked over to the window L had been looking out of. There was a bird's nest on a ledge outside of the window. A pair of small, brown birds was nestled in it, trying to keep warm. She gave the window a light pound with her right fist.

_I may have just given up my independence…and possibly my life_, she realized.

Ami refolded the newspaper clipping and replaced it in L's wallet. She looked through the plastic cards in the various pockets and came across door key for the hotel they were staying at. "If he asks, I was looking for this. I doubt he will though." She took out the key and left it on the table. Ami replace the cards she had removed and tossed the wallet back on the table. She turned around and fixed L's blanket, who made no movement. "I feel bad…he often gets treated more like an object than a person. Like he's a robot or a machine."

"How did you do it? How did you adjust so fast? I wouldn't have known you two were apart for ten years if you hadn't said something." Matsuda asked quietly.

Ami continued to watch L sleep. _And is that a curse or luck, Matsui…_

She wanted to explain. "We do what we have to do. He and I are a lot alike. We don't like change, but we do it to survive." She paused. "In a way it's not much different than any of you." Ami turned back to the group. "It's a lot like the Kira case. We're doing it because we 'have to' not because we want to. Personal desires don't really factor in."

Yagami gave her a nod.

"That's all I've got right now, guys. I'm gonna turn in." She told them quietly, picking up the hotel key. "Let him know when he wakes up to come get me. I'll see you guys in the morning." Ami walked to the front door and let herself out, shutting the door quietly behind her.

The men relaxed where they sat, all three drifting off to sleep in minutes.

Noticing it had gotten quiet, L opened his eyes. _Not even I knew how hard it was for her. She's never said anything…_

_**Next Chapter:**_  
"The Cameras Go In, and the Team Debates About Light."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight:** _Wire Me a Working Persona, Part 1_

"_Today I fell and felt better  
Just knowing this matters  
I just feel stronger and sharper  
Found a box of sharp objects what a beautiful thing…"_

- "A Box Full of Sharp Objects," _The Used_

_**The Next Morning, Around 8:00 am**_

"I've decided that I'm going to be moving hotels today. I normally wouldn't be so concerned with it, but with a case like this, I think it's important to stay on the move to stay a step ahead." L announced.

The team had gathered in the common room once again. Only L appeared somewhat refreshed from the previous night's sleep, and he consciously ignored the sleepiness in the other team members.

Yagami yawned. "So how do we handle this, as far as safety concerns? If we walk out of here with a ton of equipment and boxes it'll look suspicious."

"This is true, and I've already made plans to deal with that." L replied. "After we break up here, everyone will be assigned to a task or location. Please do not leave these places until you receive a phone call from me. It will be from an unknown cellular number it cannot be traced back to my cell. I will give you the hotel's name and general location, but nothing more. Do not ask for it on the phone."

Ami shifted in her seat to the right of L. _Hurry up with this, I'm hungry._

L looked at Ami. "Are you listening to me?"

She looked back at him. "Yeah." _Food…_

He shook his head slightly. "Anyway, Watari will meet you at the rear of the hotel with keys and the room number."

Matsuda started to stand up, suddenly. "Are we done? I'm starving."

Aizawa laughed, and Yagami cleared his throat.

L stared at him confused. "No, I'm not done, actually. Please let me finish." He told Matsuda, flatly.

Matsuda sat back down, embarrassed. His cheeks tinted pink.

Ami chuckled. "Nice one. Were you the kid who liked to interrupt the teacher, too?"

L turned to Ami. "Wasn't that you?" He asked innocently.

It was Ami's turn to be embarrassed. "Ah…" Ami crossed her arms across her chest and looked down. "Shut up, L."

The room sat silent for a moment.

L looked from Ami to Yagami, and then appeared content to continue. "The other thing we need to discuss is the removal of the materials from this room. As instructed, no one has removed anything from the investigation from the room. Thank you. Due to their familiarity with the equipment and paperwork, I have authorized only Ami and Watari to pack and remove the materials from the room. Anything you have regarding the investigation needs to be left for them to deal with."

Ami balked in displeasure. "Uh, L, I have no intention of doing all of that physical labor when you have several guys here. Besides the fact that you'll not be doing anything productive then yourself. And you know full well that Watari's going to be occupied dealing with the fact that you'll only eat what he makes. So…"

Yagami interrupted her confusing tirade. "Let me help Ami with the packing, at least. I think that this is as much a part of the investigation as analyzing videos or working undercover."

Ami summed up her point. "You suck at planning, L. You always have."

Having overheard the noise, Watari entered the room from the kitchen. "May I make a suggestion?"

L looked up at him. _Is it about food, because I'm starving._

"Let Miss Ami and I install the cameras in the Director's and Yagami's houses, and _you_ pack the materials."

"Hmm." L pondered, putting a hand to his mouth. "That does make more sense."

Yagami and Ami looked at L, then at each other, coming to a similar conclusion. _He can't even organize his talking, how can he organize all of these materials on his own? Never mind the fact that it'll never get done because he's so easily distracted._

Yagami spoke up. "I will stay and help you organize and pack the materials, L. I've already seen what's here, so I'm not a security risk. As far as technological expertise, it's not hard to take it apart, I'm sure. The hard is probably putting it back together…"

Ami nodded. "I agree. I'm sure Yagami can be of a lot of help. Let him help you deal with all of this."

L appeared oblivious to the fact that Yagami and Ami had ganged up to pressure him to do as they wanted. "Alright. Ami and Watari will head to the Director's and the Yagamis." He turned to Matsuda. "Matsui, I want you to return to the police station for a shift. We need to keep someone there at all times, if for no other reason than access to the station's databases." L turned finally to Aizawa. "Ai, go and see your family. It may be a while until you get to do so again."

Aizawa nodded in response. "Thanks."

L surveyed the group. "Should anything change, I will be in touch."

_**About 30 Minutes Later**_

Yagami sorted out a group of manila file folders by the direction of the tabs and placed them into a white moving box. He pulled out a roil of clear packing tape from a hotel-supplied cabinet to secure it shut. The screeching noise of the pulled tape caused L to look up to Yagami from the other side of the room.

But it was Ami who needed L's attention. "Hey, look at me!"

Ami was standing in front of him, bent down, while L knelt in front of a box of tapes. "We need to go over this list of equipment for the cameras and mics. I don't want to get over there and find out I let you pack something we needed." Ami explained, waving a sheet of white paper in his face.

L grabbed it from her hand and stared at it for a moment. He then shoved it back at Ami. "Take what's listed on there. You should be fine." He looked down and in a circle. "I think I'm missing an envelope." He muttered.

Ami stared at the paper for a moment, and then down at L. "I want to know if it's necessary to install this much equipment in one room. This is a project in of itself."

L did not meet her gaze. "It is. There's still a five-percent chance that Light is Kira."

Yagami looked up from across the room and watched them, but said nothing.

"What are the chances that this equipment will catch him doing something Kira-related?" Ami asked.

L picked up a manila envelope from inside of a white shipping box and looked at its exterior. "Ten percent. But if we catch him doing nothing suspicious I suspect my overall suspicion of him will increase."

Ami was confused. "So…if we catch him doing nothing, you'll be _more_ suspicious of him?"

L put the envelope back in the box and looked about at the floor again. "Correct."

Ami knelt down on the floor next to him. "Okay then." She paused. "Hey, listen…" Her voice took on a serious tone. "We need to talk."

He felt her staring at him at looked her in the eyes. L angled his torso back though, to avoid being too close to her. "About what?"

She lowered the tone of her voice. "The doctor wants to see you. He's worried."

L scowled and looked away. "I don't have time to deal with this right now." He stood up and took a step away from her.

"L, this is serious." She told me, looked up at him. "If you get sick during this…"

He turned to her over his left shoulder, and glared at her, causing Ami to shrink back. "I just told you I don't have time to deal with it. Drop it."

Ami crossed her arms across her chest and looked away. "Jerk…" She mumbled.

He ignored her comment and crossed the room to see how Yagami was faring with the packing.

Ami sat sullen for a moment, but her moping was interrupted by Watari entering the room. He stepped over a mass of bundled wire and stood in front of Ami. He bent down in front of her. "Ami?"

"Eh?" She looked up, startled. "Oh, yeah, sorry." She paused, looking for a box. "Um, I think we're ready to go. I tried to go over the equipment list with L, but he didn't seem interested in discussing it." She scowled again and looked away from Watari.

He offered her a hand and helped her stand up. "You…you seem more irritated with him than usual."

Ami brushed off carpet debris from her black pants. "Yeah, well, I didn't sleep much." She brushed more. "Sometimes he just bugs me I guess."

Watari patted her on the left shoulder. "I'm sure you'll be fine." He looked about at the floor. "Where's the box we need? There's quite a mess in here."

The mess appeared to be getting bigger as L opened boxes and pulled out contents, but never closed them back.

Ami looked about again, and then found a box to her right with bundled wires, a number of tiny camera and mics, and the appropriate tools. She stepped to her left and reached her right hand into the box, stabbing her hand on a pair of needle-nose pliers. She immediately pulled her hand out. "_Ow!_ What the…? Why are the tools standing up in the box?" She shook her hand. "Sheesh, who _packed_ this box?"

L looked up at her briefly, but she failed to notice.

Ami picked up the box, stepped back to where Watari was standing, and handed it to him. "Anyway, I think we are good to go. This should be everything. Oh, wait!" She looked about at the floor, and found the sheet of paper she had been waving in L's face. Ami reached over the side of the box and tucked it in on the side. "Now it's all good." She patted the side of the box. "Let's go."

Watari and Ami stepped over the mine-field of boxes and paperwork, and made their way to the door. Ami stepped in front of Watari, held open the door, and he made his way into the hallway. She was apt to follow, but stopped half-way out of the door. "Yagami, make sure he eats, 'kay?" It came out more as a command than a question.

Yagami looked up. "Uh? Eh, okay, don't worry about it!" He replied.

Ami shut the door.

Yagami noticed L – who was kneeling next to a box of tapes – looking down at the floor, scowling. "Eh, what's the matter?"

"I think…sometimes…she doesn't respect me." He muttered.

Yagami put down the pile of paperwork he was holding. "I don't think its anything like that. I think she doesn't know how to act around you yet. She probably still thinks of you as a kid, even if its unconsciously. I think if I hadn't seen someone in more than a decade it would be hard on me, too." Yagami inhaled quickly, realizing he had likely said too much.

L did not seem phased, and continued to look down. "I suppose." _How much did she tell them? What did she say when I was still asleep?_

Yagami huffed and turned to a box on his right. "Back to work, hm?"

"Yeah…back to work." L sounded less than enthused. _This is so boring…_

_**Next Chapter:**_  
"The team members set about to their tasks."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine:** _Wire Me a Working Persona, Part 2_

"_Renegades with fancy gauges  
Slay the plague for it's contagious  
Pull the plug and take the stages  
Throw away your television now…"_

- "Throw Away Your Television," _Red Hot Chili Peppers_

_**11:08 am**_

Matsuda sat quietly at his desk rubbing his eyes. After not sleeping, a pile of messages from the Director and the Firearms department were not a welcome sight. He started flipping through pages of typed dialogue from meetings he had missed in the last forty-eight hours.

A female officer with long, dark brown hair stopped at his desk. "I've got another message for you, Matsuda." She held out a small pink slip of paper for him.

Matsuda looked up, flustered at his lack of composure and unkempt suit. "Oh, sorry, thanks." He took the note from her; it was a phone message.

The woman gave me a quick nod, and he realized she was still standing there. "Oh, um, was there something else?" He asked abruptly.

She blushed. "Oh, um…no, I guess not. Have a good day." She nodded again, and left his desk.

Matsuda was sure he had missed something, but had no idea what. He was too tired to be _that_ perceptive, and his mind was too filled with issues relating to the Kira case. _Ryuuzaki has it easy; all he has to think about is this case. He doesn't have to deal with things like…girls…_

He noticed the phone number on the pink slip of paper. It was from the Missing Persons desk. Picking up the receiver, he dialed the number. The phone buzzed twice, and the line was picked up.

"Hello, this is Officer Matsuda. I received a message from your desk about a missing person. How is it related to my cases?"

Matsuda listened to the other officer explain the situation.

He furled his brow. "Hmm. Alright thanks." Matsuda replaced the receiver, and then sat in silence for a few moments. _Reye Penbar's fiancée is missing…did Kira get to her? How? _He looked over the paperwork scattered over the desk and frowned. _I'm starting to think I'm not qualified for this job… _

He started to sort out the papers by relevance. Only those that appeared related to the Kira case ended up in a pile in front of him_. I think I'm going to review everything I've got here. I need to start putting together some of my own thoughts on this. I need to contribute more…_

Matsuda sighed. "But why…? Who am I trying to impress?" He muttered.

_**2:15 pm**_

Half-way through packing his sixth box for the day, Yagami was struck with an odd thought. _What's appropriate to ask Ryuuzaki? How do I make small-talk with someone who doesn't like to talk about himself?_ "Eh, Ryuuzaki, are you going to help me pack, or am I going to end up doing it all myself?" He asked, trying to ask a difficult question nonchalantly.

L stood looking out a window on the far side of the room. Menial labor tasks held no interest for him, so he busied his mind with spinning through the facts of the case.

Unfortunately, it also meant he wasn't listening to Yagami.

"Oi, Ryuuzaki!"

L visualized the handwriting on the notes they had received from Kira.

"Ryuuzaki!"

L snapped back to the current scenario. Yagami was standing next to him, shaking his shoulder. He felt trapped suddenly, and withdrew from Yagami, balling his fists and putting his arms across his chest. L leaned against the window to move as far from the perceived threat as possible.

Yagami noticed L shaking, and took a step back. "Sorry…I didn't mean to startle you." _Damn, he frightens easily…_

"Did you need something, Yagami?" L asked quietly, looking away from him.

"Ah…" Yagami started, and then sighed. It wasn't worth fighting about. "Don't worry about it, I'll handle it."

L remained quiet. "Alright."

Yagami returned to the other side of the room, noticing that L straightened up and appeared as if nothing had happened in the last few minutes. _He's a weird one…_ Yagami picked up a manila folder, but found it overstuffed. The contents spilled out onto the checkered-patterned carpet, leaving him with only the folder in his hand. Amongst the scattering of papers was an old, glossy, three by five photograph. Bent half-way over, Yagami picked up the photo. Two young children – a girl and a boy – were sitting on stone steps in front of a modern gothic-revival building. Yagami flipped the picture over:

"1987 - Ami (9) and L (8)"

_Huh, they are older than they act, aren't they…_

Yagami looked up and noticed L eyeing him, attempting to be discreet. Unnerved, Yagami stuffed the photograph in the inside breast pocket of his suit coat, instead of back in the folder. _I'll claim it's for Ami…he'll believe that, right?_

L sighed loudly and shuffled over to where Yagami was working. Squatting on the floor, he picked up a manila folder, flipped through it quickly, and packed it in a white shipping box next to him. "If you wanted help, you should have asked. I'm not always aware of what other people want." L explained. He picked up another folder and repeated his process.

Busy with another box, Yagami looked to the side. "You seemed…unnerved before, so I let it go."

L looked up at him, staring. He put his right hand to his mouth. "I usually do everything myself, on my own time. I'm not used to having so much help. I suppose part of me is taking unfair advantage of it."

When he found his hands empty, Yagami reached into his coat and pulled out the picture he had commandeered earlier by accident. He handed it to L. "I think this is yours."

L snapped the picture from him and stared at it. "I remember this picture." He stated flatly. "Later that day we found out Ami's parents were dead. She cried a lot and it bothered me."

Yagami was taken aback. "Her parents died and it bothered _you? _Somewhat heartless of you, don't you think?"

L stood up and stuffed the picture in the left back pocket of his worn-out jeans. "Don't misunderstand me. The sound of crying bothers me, not that she was upset. She got to know her family at least – she was lucky." He paused and looked out a nearby window. "I think…I would personally brutalize anyone who caused her that kind of pain again." He told Yagami offhandedly.

Yagami felt his gaze widen. _Wow, he's_ not _someone I would__want to have angry at me…_

_**3:52 pm**_

"We're almost done with this house, right?" Ami questioned Watari with a huff. "I'm tired already." Ami bundled a group of cords behind a bookcase.

"I hope you're not tired. We have twice as much work…" Watari struggled with a pair of wire cutters. "Work…at the other house."

Ami assisted him with the cutters, taking over the task of stripping the ends of the bundled copper wiring. "I wish L…_Ryuuzaki…_hadn't given Aizawa a pass on the work. Everyone else is struggling to finish their jobs, I'm sure."

Watari bent down and started putting a collection of mic equipment odds and ends into a moving box they had brought it. "You know he couldn't have helped us with this. We're lucky there are two of us, otherwise I would have had to do all of this myself." When the box was full, he stood back up and rubbed his back. "I think I'm getting too old for all of this."

Ami laughed. "Aww, Watari's gotten old." She snapped a wire hard. "Join the crowd."

He picked up a bundle of wire and set it on top of the box. "You two aren't old. You just complain so much, it just seems like it."

Ami ignored the jest. "Why do we have to be done in one day anyway? Why can't we start with one house and see how it goes?"

Watari yawned and stretched. "Ryuuzaki says he has something planned for this evening. He hasn't filled me in on everything yet."

Ami stopped moving and stared at him. "You've forgotten, I don't like surprises."

_**4:28 pm**_

Standing in the doorway to Light's room, Ami and Watari surveyed the room. Ami looked over the walls. "How boring. There's not even anything interesting on the walls. This kid _must_ spend all of his time with his nose in his books."

Watari eyed her out of the corner of his right eye. "He who casts stones…"

She interrupted him. "Probably gets laid more. Anyway…" She sat down the box she had carried from the Bentley – which had to be parked two blocks over for safety reasons.

He scoffed. "Someone work up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

She put her hand on her hips. "I never saw it. By the time I actually got to it, L was banging on my door to get up."

"Ryuuzaki." Watari corrected.

Ami found herself annoyed. "Ryu…_oh whatever!"_ She threw arms up and then back down. "It's not like he's here."

Watari chuckled. "If you keep making that mistake, he's going to be irritated at you."

Ami rolled her eyes. "We've been installing this stuff for, what, _six hours_ now? Remind me to care about that later." She pulled out a bundle of wire and dug for the wire cutters, repeating the process she had done a dozen times already that day. Watari started to move books from the shelf to place the cameras through it. _Though I'm not sure if I'll forget to be irritated myself…_

_**6:27 pm**_

Nearly done with three of the walls in Light's room, Watari's cell phone rang. Watari answered, "Hello? Yes, we're nearly done with the second house. I would say no more than a half hour at this point."

Ami looked up at him from her squatting position on the floor. _If we're lucky…_

"Alright, that's good. Tell Yagami good job on dealing with all of that." Watari paused. "I'll call them." Watari blinked and seemed taken aback suddenly. "That's it? I thought we had an hour?" He listened to the phone. "Alright, we will be you then at that address." Watari clapped his black, clamshell cell phone shut suddenly. "We only have about 20 minutes to finish because we still need to clean up and get back to the car without being noticed."

Ami made a face at him. "That's it?"

Watari surveyed the room. "Let's finish this wall and clean. I think we got done everything we're going to be able to."

Ami nodded, and appeared visibly aggravated. "We did the best we could. If this isn't enough, then he should have come here and done it himself."

Watari looked at her with surprise. "I highly suggest not mentioning that to him. He already seems on edge about something."

Ami stifled her comment. _I'll tell him what ever the hell I want…_ She clipped the final wire. "That's it. Let's clean up and get out of here." She surveyed the walls a final time. "Man, this room creeps me out."

_**Next Chapter:**_  
"The teams views L's broadcast and tempers flare."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10:** _I Don't Like the Flavor of Your Humor_

_"Strange zoo, strange blaze  
Douse my head in flames  
Coming through got to get some  
Happiness is a bad son..."_

- "A Tendency to Start Fires," _Bush_

_**Around 7 pm**_

"We've got everything moved, we're just waiting on everyone to get back." Yagami announced, rounding the corner of a hotel in Akasaka.

His words were for Watari and Ami, already back from their work on the two houses and waiting for the rest of the team to meet up with them. Watari was the first to respond to Yagami. "We're just waiting on Aizawa and Matsuda at this point."

Ami looked sullen. "How big is the mess?"

Yagami shrugged. "It's probably going to take the rest of the evening; unpacking and reorganizing everything as Ryuuzaki had it before. I think he knows how he want everything, but he hasn't let me in on that."

She stared off in the distance, distracted by the cool, blowing wind. "That's fine. I was expecting he would have me do the setup work. I suspect I'll be up most of the night...again."

A black, midsized sedan pulled into the hotel's back parking lot, and parked between a red compact and a dark-green import sedan. The group watched Aizawa climb out of the drivers seat. He was dressed in a clean and pressed dark olive-green suit, looking refreshed. He sauntered over to the group. "Alright, are we ready to work?"

Ami chuckled darkly. "My, don't we look rejuvenated and energized? I wonder why." She smirked at Aizawa, well-aware of what he must have done in the last few hours.

Watari cleared his throat. "Now, now Ami. Let's all be mature here."

She sighed, and opted to let the situation go. Yagami chose to ignore the situation, and the extent of a reaction Ami got from Aizawa himself was a dirty look.

A white and blue taxi pulled into the parking lot, and looking rushed Matsuda climbed out of the backseat. He ran up to the group, and the taxi pulled away with a screech. "I..." He huffed. "Sorry I'm late. I lost track of time."

The group, looking mildly suspecious at the rear of the hotel, eyed him. "Whatever." Ami blurted out. "Can we go inside now? I'd love to sit down for a while."

Reaching into the inside breast pocket of his suit, Yagami pulled out an unmarked white envelope, and then handed it to Watari. "I'm supposed to give you this." He added.

Watari took the envelope, inspected the outside of it, and then opened it. Taking out a number of white plastic cards with card-swipe strips on them, he started to pass them out. "These keys are for the common room only." Watari handed one to Ami. "Ryuuzaki likely didn't want to get your room key mixed up with the rest of these, so he left it out of the envelope. Ask for it when we go inside." Having emptied the envelope, he folded it closed, then in half, and then stashed it inside of his suit's breast pocket.

Ami accepted the card. "Alright, will do."

Yagami surveyed the group. "If we're all set, I'll lead." He stepped away from the group to an unmarked door at the back of the hotel. He inserted his card into an electronic reader at the doorhandle - it blinked green - and he pulled open the door. Yagami lead them down the short hall to a second locked door, and he repeated the process with a nicer, interior-styled door.

"You know, this hotel isn't as nice as the other one." Ami commented nonchalantly, surveying the walls and light fixtures.

"Aah! That's...that's not why were here! How can you worry about something like that at a time like this?!" Matusuda blurted out. He stepped into Ami's path, blocking her from moving farther down the hallway.

She stepped around him, but not before meeting Matsuda's gaze. "Watch it, detective. I'm at least as old as you, and I ask that you treat me as such. It was just an observation."

Matsuda stopped short in the hallway, and his anger faultered. The rest of the group appeared to be content to ignore the discussion once again. After several more twists and turns down the hotel's hallways, Yagami stopped at a room. Without discussion, he inserted his card key into the door's lock and pushed open the door.

Once again, L was sitting amongst a grouping of moving boxes, but appeared to be inspired to unpack this time. Ami started to organize the boxes around him to allow the team a path to the sitting area. The rest of the men - minus L who was busing himself with a manila folder - started to remove boxes from the couch and two chairs in the sitting area. After a few minutes, L commendeered Ami's attention.

"I need you to start setting up some of the monitors, at least three of them with the switcher." He asked flatly. "It's got to be done by 7:25."

Ami was surprised by the sudden demand. "Okay, I thought you were going to do that, but whatever." She turned her attention to three of the computer monitors sitting in front of a chair that L had set up outside of the sitting area. The switcher was still on the floor, and an end table was functioning as a monitor stand. Ami worked methodically, though slower than she might have if she hadn't been so tired.

L sat down in the chair he had set up. He then leaned forward to get Ami's attention. "I need you to put _that _one on the right. Its better for dark camera angles." He instructed, pointing at one of the two off-white monitors she was working with.

Ami looked up at him. "Aren't these two the same model?" She asked, directing his attention to the monitor she was working on, and then the one he was gesturing at.

"Yes, but they behave differently." L told her, settling back in the chair.

Ami rolled her eyes. "Sure they do." She scoffed. _Once again...do it your self, L..._

L missed her sarcasm. "They do."

A second conversation was taking place on the other side of the room. Yagami settled a box to the side of the couch, and sat down on the end, and addressed Matsuda. "Was there anything at the office? I haven't even gotten a chance to check my voice mail."

Matsuda set down a white box without a lid directly in front of him, reversing the action he was in the middle of. "I got a phone message from Missing Persons. They said that Reye Penbar's financee has gone missing."

Yagami sighed and stared at the coffee table between the couch and chairs. "Missing, huh? When was she reported missing?"

Matsuda put a hand to his mouth. "They said its been...around seventy-two hours...when I talked to them. So...yeah, a few days."

Yagami looked up at Matsuda. "Do they have any leads?"

Matsuda started to answer, but lost his train of thought when the other conversation grew louder.

"I need it done as the switcher between one and two, _not_ two and three!" L demanded.

Ami appeared to the others as having had enough. "Ya know..." She started, putting down a cord tie and then standing up. "If you wanted it done this specifically L, you should have done it yourself in the meanwhile." Ami told him with annoyance.

L scowled at her, and appeared to be angry. "I have asked you a good number of times to refer to me as Ryuuzaki here. It's for security reasons. And if you aren't going to, I am under the impression you aren't as concerned with my safety as you should be."

Ami sighed, the words having cut her. _Jerk...he's so self-centered nowadays... _"Fine." She stated emotionless. "Ryuuzaki...I'm too tired to argue with you right now. She finished connecting two more wires, then flipped on the switchboard. A half-dozen buttons lit up red indicating they were active. "Alright." She looked over her left shoulder at L. "I think its set up the way you wanted it to be."

Ami flipped the monitors on. The screen on the left showed the Yagami's living room, angled to catch the living room and the dining room table. Light and Mrs Yagami sat on the right hand side of the table, while Sayu was occupied with a television drama. Mrs. Yagami asked her to come to the table, and Sayu complained that her show was almost over - and how could she resist watching the next episode previews.

_This girl's so typical of girls her age... _Ami realized. _She so...average..._

The middle monitor showed a shot from Light's room, directly facing the desk. The monitor on the far right showed the Director's family eating dinner in their dining room as well, but their television was not on. The Director, his wife, and two teenager daughters sat in near silence at the table. The Director looked tired and old-before-his-age.

Ami made a face when she noticed the Director. _I had forgotten how worn-out that guy looks... _

Aizawa and Matsuda turned two of the chairs around and sat down to watch the monitors. Ami remained on the floor, but moved to the left of L's chair to make more room for Aizawa and Matusda. Watari sat at the roll-top desk across the room, and appeared to be busing himself with paperwork. L suddenly turned to Yagami who had come up behind his chair. "What time is it?" He blurted out.

Yagami pushed back his sleeve and looked at his brown-leather banded watch. "Hmm. Looks to be about 7:28."

L turned back to the monitors. "So it'll be about thirty seconds. Since they have the television on, please turn your attention to the Yagamis."

The television blinked, and barely readable text appeared on the screen. Sayu read it aloud for all: "One thousand detectives are being sent to Japan to aid in the Kira investigation."

Suddenly excited, Matsuda blurted out "Wow, that's great!"

Except for L - who stared intently at the monitor focused on the Yagami's - the team turned toward him. Aizawa said what the rest of them were thinking. "L made that up, Matsui." He told him cooly.

Matusda realized his foolishiness, and sunk back in his chair. "Oh...heh."

His embarassment was underminded by Ami's suddenly burst of laughter. "Are you freakin' kidding me? What idiot would believe that? Do you really think that'll get Kira's attention?" She held her midsection and laughed heartily.

Watari looked up from his paperwork and happened to meet Yagami's gaze. Both were aware of the stress the two had been under over the course of the day, and a fight or argument seemed eminent.

"I'm going to take a look in the kitchen since we just got here." Watari announced, standing up. He walked to the kitchen without further discussion.

Yagami took a step back from L's chair. "I'm going to..." He struggled to find an excuse to leave the room. "Umm...help Watari in the kitchen..." He took another step back, turned about face, and headed for the kitchen.

By this point, Aizawa realized something was off in the room. After watching Yagami's odd behavior, he watched L for a moment. L stared ahead at the monitors, and looked to Aizawa to be on the verge of losing his stoic exterior.

"Umm..." Matsuda questioned suddenly, looking about. "What's going on...?" He looked first in the direction of the kitchen door, and then at L. Startled by Matsuda, Aizawa grabbed him by the right arm and started to drag him towards the kitchen, forcing Matsuda to flip around.

"Hey! Ai...!" Matsuda started to protest, but didn't get his complaint out before the two had reached the kitchen.

Ami listened to the kitchen door swing on its hinges. The room was eeriely quiet. "Um...I think I missed..." She started to ask quietly, regaining her composure.

L stared down at Ami from his chair, his expression dark. "I am in charge of this investigation. You're not working for the Feds. You work for _me _here. If you don't start respecting that, there could be repercussions." He told her coldly.

Feeling his words a direct threat to herself, Ami rose and looked down upon L. His gaze looked up to meet her. "I...I..." She huffed out of anger. "I never asked to be in here the first place, remember?"

L blinked. "That wasn't what I meant. I meant it could be a security risk."

Ami balled her fists. "Stop lying." She told him under her breath.

"I'm not lying. If Kira gets the impression you are in charge it or working with the American Federal government still, it could put you at a much greater risk. I've got no problem putting _my _life at risk, but it seems inane to put yours in the same position. In fact, I think we've already had this discussion." He told her calmly.

Ami felt shock, then disappointment in herself hit her. "I'm sorry." She put a hand to her face. "I think I'm worn out. I haven't tried to keep this kind of pace since I was an undergrad. But..."

"But what?"

She sighed. "I think this might be too much for me. I need..." She paused. "I need you to not ask so much from me."

L looked away and watched the monitors without much thought. "I know I am asking a lot of you. But I also know you have the skills that I need. As much as I appreciate the help from the other team members, I also know you've dealt with high-level criminals before."

Ami returned to the floor. "Nothing like this."

It was L's turn to sigh. "No. I admit...nothing like this. This is even more than I am used to. Some of it is so foolish that I can't rationalize it, and the rest doesn't fit into any frame of reference I have." A light started to shine in the room's window, and it caught L's attention.

They sat in silence for a moment, until Ami noticed something on the monitors.

"That's weird." She stated.

L looked back at the monitors in a rush. "What is?"

The two watched Light remove a bag of chips from the kitchen cupboard, and then leave the kitchen. The middle monitor showed Light enter his room and turn on the television in his room. He then sat down at his desk and open the bag of chips.

"They just finished eating dinner. Why did he open them now?"

L said nothing but put a hand to his mouth. "Hmm." _I like that flavor...but most people don't... _Suddenly realizing Light had turned to a news program, L demanded: "Change the monitor on the right to that channel!"

Ami flicked several switches on the switcher, and the same channel Light was watching popped up on the monitor - replacing the camera view of the Director's living room.

"Do we have an overhead shot of the desk?" L asked abruptly.

Ami shook her head. "That was the wall we couldn't get to. There was too much stuff to put back if we had started on it."

L sunk slightly in his chair. "Darn."

Light appeared to be studying and eating at the same time, but it was impossible to know more than that from the angle behind the desk.

A voice came from the direction of the kitchen. "Umm..." It was Yagami. "What's going on?"

Neither Ami nor L answered; both stared intently at the monitor hoping to catch a glimpse of what Light was writting.

The news program returned from a commerical break, and a fair-skinned, male news broadcaster appeared on screen. He began to discuss a criminal who was going to be standing trial next week for the murder of a young college student. After describing the basic facts of the case, the announcer suddenly stopped talking, put his hand to his left ear, and appeared to be listening to his ear piece.

"I..." He seemed in shock. "I have some shocking news. It appears that the accused has suddenly suffered sudden cardiac arrest while in a holding cell in Shibuya!" The announcer was as shocked as anyone, and lost any formality in his speech. "This is shocking - could it be the work of Kira?!"

L rocked back and forth in his seat. _This is perfect...I've been waiting for a crime to happen under survaliance..._

Yagami came up behind L's chair, and the rest of the men sautered out of the kitchen. "Ryuuzaki? What's happening?"

"Heh. Kira seems to have stuck again." L remarked with a smirk.

Yagami suddenly realized that they were watching both the news program and Light at the same time. "Look! Light is just sitting there. He's studying!" Yagami pointed at the monitor.

L shook his head. "Light has the same news program on. And he didn't react at all to the news."

Yagami found a rebuttal. "This happens all of the time now. People stop reacting to such news. Besides, he's busy studying!"

Bitting on his hand, L found the situation too convient for Light. _His behavior is...too perfect...for the situation..._

Matusda joined in. "This should be enough to exonerate him, right?!"

L smirked. _Wrong...it makes him more suspcious..._ He turned around suddenly and found Watari in the group, making eye contact. "When is the entrance exam for Tokyo University?" He looked at Yagami abruptly. "That is where he's testing for, right?"

Yagami was taking aback. "Um, yes, why?"

L ignored Yagami's question. "Watari, set up the test for me." L settled back into his chair, while the rest watched him in confusion.. "I think I'm going to have to get closer to Light."

_**Next Chapter:**_  
"Orientation at To-oh"


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: **_Crazy and Psychotic Geniuses Alike, Part 1_

_"Everybody's anxious  
The crowd is all around us  
The followers of Aldous  
Are spinning with their mescaline  
A man behind the altar screams  
'You stole my idea  
You stole my idea...!'"_

- "Century," _Live _

_**Fifteen Days Later**_

Standing in her black shirted-suit and high-heeled black pumps, Ami was the picture of the business professional. She looked herself over in her hotel room's half-length mirror and fluffed her hair.

However, the only business being conducted was an undercover operation.

"You should really consider changing your clothes, Ryu. They might not let you in the door looking like that." Ami told the reflection of L.

He sat on the end of her queen-sized bed tracing the comforter's pattern with his right index finger. L sported his usual white sweatshirt and stone-washed jeans; his dirty white tennis shoe flats sat to the left of the bed. "I'll be fine. I would rather be comfortable than fashionable." He paused. "I'm not sure why it matters, anyway."

Ami sighed. _Didn't I just say...?_ "This isn't just _your _orientation. It's mine as well. What are people going to say when I'm seen with you?"

L looked up and stared at her blankly. "They will think you're sleeping with a student I assume." He questioned, looked back down, and the returned to tracing the pattern.

Ami inhaled, and then exhaled loudly. "Sheesh." _I still think he's a closet pervert..._ She tried to alter the subject. "You're supposed to be reading in front of everyone, don't you care what you look like?"

He stopped moving for a moment, then returned to his action. "No."

_I guess I can _kinda_ understand...he's not used to this sort of thing... _Ami realized. "Alright, well..." She looked herself over a final time. "I'm taking a taxi up to the campus; I need to be there early to go over some tax forms with the head of my department."

L didn't look up. "Alight."

Ami packed up her purse. "I'll meet up with you later."

"Okay."

Ami started towards the door.

"Wait..." L started. "I need to discuss something with you."

_Figures, he waits to the last minute to discuss something important with me..._ She turned back around. "What is it?"

"Light is very likely the other reader of the speech. I need you to be aware, and a bit on guard."

Ami furled her brow. "You're still quite suspcious of him, aren't you?"

L nodded, but didn't look up at her. "Yes. That five-percent is likely to grow; depending on what I see over the next week, of course. I'm using all of this to confirm that percentage."

Ami gave a slight laugh. "Always about the numbers, huh?"

He nodded again. "Yes."

She sighed. "Alright, this time I'm off. I'll see you up there."

"Hnn."

Ami took her leave, and headed out the door, leaving L still busing himself with the pattern. He looked up at the door. _I couldn't bring myself to tell her it's closer to ten percent now...but I don't know how much it'll matter to her..._

_**An hour and a half later**_

"...and with that I would like to ask the audiance for a round of applause for the freshman class of 2007 at Tokyo University..." Clapping ensued.

"Figures, I'm late." Ami muttered. The introductorary speech wrapping up as she hit the door.

Following the President's Speech, the Provost for New and Incoming students walked to the podium at the center of the stage. The university's auditorium was not particularily large, but was easily able to accomidate the new freshman class. Noticing that sidebar conversations were breaking out between the speakers, Ami used the chance to enter the auditorium and take a seat on the end of the third row. A male student glanced at her, and Ami shrugged.

"I got lost." She stated simply, and then turned her attention to the program she had been given at the entrance.

Another male student two seats down leaned over and in Ami's direction. He appeared to be the gossiping-type, and seemed anxious to talk - even if inappropriate at the time. "Hey, did you see that guy in the front row?" He asked quietly.

Now oblivious to L's dressing habits, she didn't think much about the question. "What are you talking about?"

The student appeared surprised. "You didn't see the guy who's dressed weird? How could you have missed him?" The man nodded towards the center of the rows, several rows up.

_Duh...he means L...I wasn't even thinking about it...I see it so often..._ "Oh. Yeah..." Ami tried to cover foolishness by mocking L in agreement. "He is dressed pretty weird. Maybe he's mocking all of us."

A woman in front of Ami half-turned. "Is that what he's doing? Maybe he's poor."The male student next to Ami responded to her. "Yeah, a poor student. He'll never make it here." They continued to converse on possible reasons for L's suspecious clothing choices.

Ami eyed the on-going dialogue, but found it impossible to interrupt them. _Nice one, Ami. Nice way to screw up an investigation...if he finds out, he'll be pissed..._

The male student two seats down turned suddenly to Ami. "Hey, you don't look like a regular student. You seem kinda old..."

Fortunanty for Ami, applause drowned out the rest of his questioning, and covered her lack of an answer. She watched a red-haied and well-groomed man from the front row stand and approach the stage on the left hand side. It was as L had predicted - Light was in fact the other man choosen to read the class's first speech. When L stood and approached the stage from the right-hand side, a number of sidebar conversations could be heard again, most of them either questioning or debating L's competency. Ami was more suprised by a meek voice several rows back mentioning how "cute" L was. A second voice streaming from the same area complained that Light was _"so_ much better looking."

Conversation erupted around her: _"He's one of the top students?!" "He's got to be some sort of genius." "How did HE did the top score?" "A crazy genius..."_

The noise was becoming too much, and she attempted to shake it off. Crowds, loud noises, and social activities were not her favorite places to be. She tried to listen attentively to the two men read their respective parts of their speeches, but Ami found it hard to focus.

The Provost walked from the right-hand side of the stage and shook Light's hand. He reached to do the same to L, but he side-stepped the Provost and was on his way back to his seat before the school offical realized what had happened. With the two off of the stage, he began to issue his closing remarks.

Ami felt the Provost was beleguring the ceremony. _God I want out of here..._

Before she was completely aware of the situation, students to her left and in front of her started to stand. It appeared that most of the students were as anxious to escape the warm and confining room as she was. Catching up with the situation, Ami stood up and stepped to the side, allowing others in her row out. She picked up her black velvet purse, opened it, and hunted for her cell phone. Flipping it open, she turned it from "silent" to "vibrate." She then closed it again and tucked it back into her purse.

Looking up from her purse, she found L standing uncomfortably close to her, in front of her - with Light standing next to him, smiling.

_**Next Chapter:**_  
"Ami and Light meet."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: **_Crazy and Psychotic Geniuses Alike, Part 2_

_"Don't you know what I could do to make you feel alright?_  
_Don't pretend I think you know I'm damn precious _  
_And Hell Yeah _  
_I'm the motherfking princess_  
_I can tell you like me too and you know I'm right..."_

- "Girlfriend," Avil Lavigne

**_3:27 pm_**

"Holy crap, you scared me..." Ami panted.

"I apologize." L gave her a slight nod.

Ami furled her brow and stared him down. "Aah...then back the hell up." _He doesn't seem to understand the concept of the "personal bubble" space..._

"Oh yes." L took a step back from Ami and stood to the left of Light. "This is Light, Assistant Director Yagami's son.

Light extended a hand, and Ami shook it, but felt discomfort start to settle in. _I've been in this kid's room..._

Light smoothed his tie. "So." He paused. "...Ryuga never mentioned who you were. How do you know...?"

Light was interrupted by L suddenly wandering away from Light's side. It appeared to Ami that his solution to the handling of Light asking questions of them was simply to leave the scene. However, he did not get very far, having caught himself in a social trap. Approximately ten paces from Light and Ami, L was stopped by the freshman who had found him to be "cute." She seemed plain to Ami with mousy brown hair and basic, brown rimmed glasses.

He was not only stopped by her talking to him, but she physically blocked his path of escape. While she was fumbling for words, L looked back over his right shoulder in Ami's relative direction.

Ami chuckled slightly. _Nice one L..._

She looked briefly at Light. "I'm sorry, I need to go." _So not sorry..._

Ami stepped to her right and shuffled over to L's side. She looped her left arm inside of his right, and much to Ami's surprise he didn't react violently or in sudden apprehension. Ami cocked her head to the left and looked at the freshman. "Sorry, he's taken." She said with a snide smile. She then whispered: "What are you doing? We need to go."

"Aah!" L jumped slightly, apparently unaware of what was going on. "Yes, we do."

Ami pulled L towards the left, forcing the freshman to take a step back and let them through. The girl was visibly disappointed, and hung her head slightly. Ami took no heed of her attitude, wanting to be away from the auditorium and Light.

She would not be so lucky. After Ami and L took several steps, Light appeared at L's left, having caught up to them. _What the hell? What does this guy think he's doing...? _Ami wondered. She caught L eye her out of the corner of his eye, but said nothing.

"You know," Light started to say with the slight laugh. "You seem a tad old to be a regular student at To-Oh."

Ami tried to hide a scowl at the mention of her age. "I came out of consideration for Ryuga."

The trio excited the auditorium and entered the campus' main courtyard.

Light tried his original question again. "So, how do you know...?" He was once again cut off, but this time by a group of giggling freshman girls who came to a stop in front of them.

A woman with short black hair started the confrontation. "Heh, so how did _you _get so lucky? Got _both _the smartest guys in the class?"

A woman with long black hair tied with a blue bow continued it. "Aren't you going to share? _I_ think she's being greedy."

Light opted to cover the situation. "Now, now, I should only be as lucky as him." He gestured to L and the fact that he and Ami still had their arms locked.

L and Ami came to similar conclusions. _He's just too perfect socially...he could lie his way out of anything, I bet..._

The young women giggled in response.

L stared Light down, finding his commentary inappropriate for the situation.

Light noticed the glare, and was taken slightly back. "I apologize. I was just trying to add to the atmosphere." _Okay, this guy is a full-blown weirdo..._

The three sidestepped the group of girls and continued down a paving-stone path. They continued for a few moments in silence. Upon entering the parking lot area, L and Ami noticed Watari standing along side the Bentley.

"I see out ride, Ami." L nodded in the general direction.

Light stopped suddenly. "Well, I guess this is where we must part. I bid you a good afternoon." He gave a slight bow and walked towards the left down an alternate path.

Ami and L arrived at the Bentley, and Watari got out of the driver's seat to open the backseat's left-hand door. Ami suddenly became aware of chatter about them, this time about how she must be "with a man from the slums" and "she must like them poor and needy." L appeared to ignore the talk, but suddenly broke from Ami's grasp and slid into the backseat of the car. Watari turned to mixed group surrounding the car, and told them to excuse them - they were due at the Diet Building. The mention of the government appeared to be enough to shock most of them, and the group abruptly disbursed down a number of paths. Ami smirked at how fast the group ran off at the mention of the Diet, and got into the car. Watari shut the door for her and then got into the driver's seat. He started the car and the three drove in silence for a number of minutes.

L was first to break the quiet, but watched the scenery rush by his window. "I've told Light that I'm L." He stated suddenly. "I also offhandedly mentioned to him that I would be interested in adding his cognitive skills to the investigation."

"Ah..." Ami was only mildly shocked at L's gall. "I hope you had a good reason for doing that." She looked across the car at him for a moment, then returned to looking out her own window.

"I do."

Ami started to roll down her window, stopping around the half-way point. "I need some air." She also leaned forward and pushed a button on the partition dividing the front and back halves of the Bentley, which rolled it all the way down.

Watari inhaled noisily. "So, did you do have 'fun'" He gave a slight chuckle, knowing how much the two hate social functions.

"I hate social functions, and you know that..." Ami retorted.

L's response was simpler. "I'm hungry."

_**Next Chapter:**_  
"L and Light try to feel out the villian in each other." 


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: **_Mirror Image Reversals, Part 1_

_"I like how you pretend__  
That__ the end will be the end__  
So fill your thirst__  
Drink a curse__  
To the death of Death instead…"_

- "Evil And A Heathen," _Franz Ferdinand_

_**Two Days Later**_

"Hey, I'm leaving for the day. I don't feel like working on this today…it's depressing me." Ami told L while rocking back and forth, sitting on the edge of the couch in the common room.

L was in front of the monitors, reviewing Reye's death once again. "That's fine." He half-turned in the chair had set up in front of them. "I'm going to be out this afternoon myself. That's why no one else is here."

It hadn't occurred to Ami that that was the reason the rest of the time was missing. "Oh. I guess I wasn't thinking along those lines." Ami mentioned, embarrassed. _I sound like a dolt…_

L narrowed his gaze. _Sometimes I wonder where her brain is…_

Ami stood up and brushed off her black pants. "Anyway, I'm going to pick up Nia and take him to Shibuya for the day. I want to make sure he gets out and gets social experience."

L turned and went back to watching the monitors. "Ah."

L's decision to not focus on her while she was speaking reminded Ami of Nia's failure to make good eye contact with her. "He's spent most of the last month alone, and I can't watch him become like someone else I know."

He chose to ignore the accusation. _I think I'm fine the way I am…_

Ami scratched her head. _Maybe I've overplayed that joke…_ She turned away from the situation and wandered into her room, connected to the common room. She had left the door open since the morning when she realized that the majority of the team would not be arriving. Ami picked up the small, black purse sitting on the corner of the dresser, popped it open, and checked its contents. Though she normally appreciated the quiet, having silence in a situation in which she and L weren't talking often disturbed her.

She stepped back to the doorway and relaxed against the frame. "So…what do you plan on learning from a tennis match? It seem like you'd learn more from him by associating with him at the university." Ami questioned.

L looked up at her, impressed that she had taken the time to consider his decision. "I am under the impression that Kira is highly competitive, and more than a little immature. As a result, I want some insight into Light's competitive nature so I can see how closely it matches the impression of Kira."

"Huh." Ami gave a slight nod, and looked at the floor. "Do me a favor, 'kay?"

L watched her intently. "What?"

She looked up at him and stared at him seriously. "Be careful, okay? That guy…just being in the same room with him bothers me. He seems like the type to carry an _internal_ rage."

"Do you feel he could be Kira?" L shifted in his seat. "I'm seriously looking for your impute on this."

Ami stared off into space. "There's something about him. It's like…the pain when you stare into the sun. Being in his presence burns. I can't stand to be near him."

L felt his eyebrows rise. "Really? It's that bad?"

Ami sighed. "He may be a perfect student and son, but he's carrying the mark of a monster."

He could not help but smile in response. "Heh. Now do you see why I wanted your help?"

She did not answer him, but continued to stare towards the other end of the common room.

"You've given me insight that I could never have ascertained on my own." L slid off of the chair and walked to the window. "Thank you, you're observation has greatly added to my theory."

Ami found it an appropriate time to change the subject, and snapped back to reality. "Do you want me to bring you anything back from Shibuya?"

L stared out the window, leaning against the sill. "Any information you might find helpful." He scoffed.

Ami snorted. "You're just _so_ funny, you know that?"

He chuckled. "I'm fine. Just stay vigilant while you're out."

Ami started towards the door. When she arrived at the door, L called to her.

"Hey."

She turned around. "What?"

L eyed Ami from the corner of his eye. "Be careful on the subway. It's been quite a while since you've had to deal with it."

It was Ami's turn to chuckle. "If I can handle the subway in New York, I think I'll be fine." She retorted and turned back around, and then let herself out of the room.

L turned back to the window and watched the traffic on the street below float by. In a rare moment, he found himself laughing to himself. _I have no doubt she's going to get groped…__I just feel bad for whoever does it… _


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen:** _Mirror Image Reversals, Part 2_

_"You live in a church  
Where you sleep with voodoo dolls  
And you won't give up the search  
For the ghosts in the halls__…  
Can you look out the __window  
Without your shadow getting in the way__…?__"_

- "Building a Mystery," Sarah McLachlan

_**An Hour-and-a–****Half Later**_

"Would you stop whining already? I told you it was easier to just take the subway. How was I supposed to know you get motion sickness?" Ami told Nia, exasperated.

The pair languished on a bench outside of a café in Shibuya, gotten less than ten feet from the subway station's platform before Nia started to complain of illness.

Nia sighed. "I told you before we left. Do you not listen when other people talk?"

His attitude peeved Ami. "What of it? I listen to people who don't whine."

"I wasn't whining!" Nia shot up from his seat suddenly, but feeling woozy, quickly returned to his seat.

Ami snorted, and ruffled his hair. "Relax, I was just teasing you. You get so riled up over the littlest things."

Nia scowled and crossed his arms across his chest. "Look who's talking."

Ami leaned back and stared at the sky. "It would have taken time to get the car out. The battery's not connected since it's in storage, and I didn't want to waste such a nice day playing in the garage."

"Why didn't you just say that before?"

She laughed and sat back up. "I'm not used to having to explain my actions. It's been a long time since I was held accountable for what I do and where I'm doing it." Ami looked at Nia, and he appeared confused. "The last time I was held accountable for another person was when Ryu and I were younger. But he never asks…" Her voice faltered. "asked…for someone to watch over him so…" Ami let her voice trail off.

Nia was in fact confused. _Ryu__…__she calls__ him that even when he's not around._ "I don't get what you mean…"

Ami chuckled. "Don't worry about it." She pulled at Nia's wrinkled left shirt sleeve. "Is every shirt you own wrinkled?"

He pushed her hand away and smoothed over the spot on his white button-down. "I'm comfortable, so leave it alone."

Ami rolled her eyes. _Where have I heard that one before…?_

A businesswoman suddenly stopped in front of their bench and both Ami and Nia looked up. The woman looked first at Ami, and then stared at Nia disapprovingly. Ami scowled at her in response, and in her anger switched to English. "What are you lookin' at? Get lost."

The woman appeared shocked at Ami's word and language choice and hurried on her way. Her black pumps clacked on the cobblestones, creating an irritating knocking noise.

Ami sighed and slouched in her seat. "People like that make me angry. You can just tell they think they're better than us…" Ami stood up, and looked back down at Nia. "Come on, let's just out of this area before we start a commotion."

The pair sauntered down the sidewalk, and the attention they had garnished previously seemed to follow them. A businessman in a smart dark-blue suit did a double take at the pair, and a group of local high-school students stopped and giggled. The amount of people around them seemed to only grow as more people took notice of the two. It peaked when they reached an intersection of small outdoor cafes and specialty shops.

Nia surveyed the people in the courtyard and sighed. "Sometimes I don't miss being average. Look at these people."

Ami looked about. "What's your point?"

"Do you really think we're like these people?" He asked, eyeing her. "We aren't like these people."

Ami scowled. "I think you're viewing yourself as superior, and for all of the wrong reasons."

Nia chuckled. "I'd be lying if I didn't admit to thinking I'm superior. But it's not for the reasons you think."

Ami looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I figured it was because you could do whatever you wanted and claim you have a logical reason for it."

He smiled. "No. It's because I don't have to deal with this kind of pressure everyday. Society views me as some sort of freak, so I don't have to pretend to be something I'm not. I don't _have_ to fit in. I'm superior because I'm bizarre."

"I had no idea you had such a negative viewpoint, Nia."

It took Ami to moment to realize that Nia was no longer at her left. She stopped and turned back, finding he had stopped a few feet back. Ami turned about and walked up behind him. "What are you looking at?

Nia stared into a small coffee shop, but Ami could only detect her and Nia's reflections from her perspective. She noticed the intense look on his face. "Hey…what are you staring at?"

No response.

"Hey." Ami shock his right shoulder. "Don't stare like that, it makes people uncomfortable."

Still no response.

_He stares in windows the __same __way L stares out __of __them…_

"You're acting like Ryu, and it makes me uncomfortable." Ami stated flatly.

Nia blinked and looked up at her. "I can't describe it…but something's odd about this place. It has an odd feeling." Nia shook his head and turned towards the right. "Let's go. This place is disturbing me."

Ami watched Nia walk on for a moment, his fists shoved in his pockets. "Nia…what did you see…?" Ami looked into the coffeehouse, but noticed nothing out of order for midday in the shopping district.

"Nia!" She called after him, but he continued to walk down the boulevard. She hurried to catch up with him.

_What did he see…?_ She wondered.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen: **_Background Gamers Dislike Attention_

_"Kill your school books and rules__  
You're no fool teach us stupid__  
Ring the bell, ditch this hell__  
You're too Cool__  
Too cool for this school…"_

- "Pre-Teen Violence," _Mindless Self Indulgence_

**_Forty-five minutes later_**

"Whoa, it's busy here…" Ami remarked more to her self than her cousin.

Nia was feeling nauseous once more from riding on the subway, and had no reply.

With the tennis match between L and Light nearing its end, Ami and Nia sauntered up to the fence that enclosed the courts. Much to their surprise a significant crowd had gathered at the fence and on the outskirts of the court. Several of the students turned towards the pair, some remembering Ami from the ceremony while some took notice of Nia's unkempt appearance. One of the braver male students pointed at the pair and chuckled, at which point Ami shot him a look of disgust.

_Stupid kids…_she thought. _It's just like being in high school…_

The disquieting situation suddenly got worse. Braver than previously, the mousey girl who had stopped L at the orientation ceremony appeared next to Nia, giving Ami a cross look. At first Ami took no notice of the situation, not being able to remember immediately where she had seen the girl before. She had a habit of naturally forgetting things her mind deemed unrelated to her.

"I want to ask you a question…" The girl stated flatly.

Ami watched the match, finding herself more concerned with L possible health problems from his sudden physical activity. Anything for a case…it's so like him…

"Hey!"

The voice finally earned Ami's attention.

"Huh, what?" She looked about confused. "Nia?"

Nia shook his head and pointed over his shoulder at the girl.

Ami raised an eyebrow. "What do you want?" _Who is this chick…?_

"I want to know if you're really going out with him."

Ami, tired from the day, stared at her blankly for a moment; she then replied with a simple "what?"

Ami's ignorance provoked the girl further. "You. Are you going out with Ryu?"

Before Ami could formulate a well-thought-out reply, Nia turned to the girl and interrupted her. "Mind your own damn business. He's not interested."

Ami found her mouth hanging open for a moment, and then started to laugh at Nia's gall. "Holy crap, Nia. That was so blunt…" Her voice trailed off in a laugh, and she began to attract attention again. Nia simply went back to watching the match.

The girl was not finished with Ami, however. "What, need your little brother to stand up for you?"

The thought of family ruffled Ami's feathers, and her laughing ceased. "Watch it."

The girl smirked, and for a moment Ami wondered if this was the same girl she had met previously. "I bet you just pretend to be tough. I bet the idea of someone else liking him scared the crap out of you…"

Ami lunged at the girl to push her back, but Nia stood between them, and pushed Ami back instead. "Stop."

The voice of Watari filtered though the crowd. "You're an adult, act like it."

Ami took a step back and found Watari at her right. His dark suit and oversized umbrella gave him a prestigious appearance, and those in the crowd around the group looked at them with sudden suspicion.

Ami scratched her head. "Sorry, Watari."

The girl – who Ami debated as to have having met before – snickered. "Who's this, your grandfather? Need a team to defend your actions, huh?"

Watari lifted his black umbrella and poked the girl in the left shoulder. "I highly suggest you mind your own business."

The girl smacked the umbrella away. "Don't touch me, old man."

Ami's mind floated back to previous episodes of Watari's anger. _This could get ugly…_ She glanced at the court and relized the situation had already garnished L's attention, and in off-moments he was glancing in their general direction.

"…your kids are a real pain in the…" Ami overheard, and turned back to the situation at hand.

Watari smacked the noisy girl in the face, shocking the surrounding crowd. A moment of silence was followed by loud chatter in all directions.

Oh crap, there goes our cover…Ami realized. She looked down at Nia, who looked at her. The pair then looked at the court, at L who had stopped playing suddenly. A neon-green tennis ball whizzed past him, and a man in the crowd yelled "game!"

Shocked, L jogged over the fence. Tossing his racket to the clay, he held on to the fence. "Ami? Ami! Get Nia and get out of here." He told her quietly. "I don't want to have to start explaining things to the school. Meet me in the tennis parking lot."

Ami grabbed Nia by the shirtsleeve and pulled him behind her. With most of the attention at Watari and the girl – who continued to argue – it was the only chance the two of them were going to get. She didn't like leaving the situation as it was, but it was better than having to explain who they were and why they were there. After pushing their way out of the crowd, the pair jogged out of the area of the tennis courts and walked towards the parking lot reserved for people who were using the courts.

Ami stopped near a Japanese compact car and sighed. "Sheesh, what a mess." She remarked, putting a hand to her hair.

Not caring much for the person's property, Nia sat on the front bumper of the car. "That ended up being way worse than I thought it was going to be." He leaned back against the hood. "I seriously thought that when I told her off she'd go away. Who was that girl?"She crossed her arms across her chest and thought. "I thought it was the girl who stopped Ryu at the orientation, but now I'm not so sure. It was weird…"

L came jogging from the tennis court club house towards them. "What…what happened?" He panted.

Ami stared at him. "Aren't you warm in those clothes?" He continued to wear the white sweater and jeans he had played in on the court. "Trying to give yourself heat-stroke?"

He scowled at her. "Never mind that. What happened?"

Ami looked at Nia, who looked back at her. "Umm, we kinda…started trouble." Ami told him sheepishly.

L started to speak, but Nia interrupted her. He sat up from the hood and stared at the yellow lines on the asphalt. "It's my fault. I should have let the girls handle it. It probably wouldn't have come to blows it I hadn't said something."

Ami's only response was to look back in the direction of the courts. She could see Watari walking over to their group quickly – followed by Light.

_Damn, this guy's __everywhere__…__he must know something…_Ami realized.

Light arrived a few steps ahead of Watari, giving him a chance to control the conversation. "Well, that was more eventful than I had expected. Do you guys do luncheons as well?" He finished his thought with a chuckle.

L appeared to be preoccupied with the disturbance, and did not response to Light's banter. Ami smacked his arm with the back of her hand, and L looked at her in confusion. She gave a nod towards Light, trying to convince him to be more concerned with the bigger picture than whether of not they had commandeered attention at the match.

Light stuck out his hand to shake L's, which L did, though visibly uncomfortable doing so. "You owe me a cup of coffee for the win, Ryuuga."

Trying to turn the group's attention, Ami interjected. "Was that the bet?"

Light laughed. "No, not really, but I left my wallet at home. I wanted to talk to him about a number of things, but I can't afford the coffeehouse."

"Ah." Ami simply pretended to care about the situation. _Left his wallet at home? No way…he's full of it…_

"Wow, it's warm." Light stated suddenly, pulling on the collar of his shirt. "I'm going to go change and get my racket." He turned and started back towards the clubhouse. "Wait for me and we'll head over to the 'shop, okay?"

L turned to him and yelled after Light. "Alright." He then turned back to Ami, Nia, and Watari. "I won't be long." He then walked back towards the tennis courts, leaving Ami wondering just how angry L really was.

**Next Chapter:**  
"Yagami's stress"


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen:** _Failing Hearts Gathering_

"_Before you go, just listen  
And I'm sorry  
For all the things I've done to you  
You know that I'm sorry  
For all the things I've put you through…"_

- "Hero," _Tantric_

_**Five Minutes Later**_

"You're awfully quiet." Nia piped.

His words broke the silence in the car, Watari driving back in the direction of the orphanage to drop Nia off. They had been sitting quietly for the last several minutes, still trying to digest the incident at the tennis court.

Ami turned from the car window and glanced at Nia. "I've been thinking about something Light said." She returned to watching the trees float along the highway out the window.

"What do you mean? You actually listened to some of the drivel that came out of his mouth?" Nia shifted in his seat in distaste.

Ami turned back to Nia and settled properly in her seat. "I listen carefully, actually. He's phony, but there's got to be reasons he says what he does. Light doesn't seem to be the type to say anything meaningless – he's very exact in his nature."

Nia didn't seem to care. "Oh."

"Anyway, it was the comment about the wallet. What are the chances he actually left his wallet at home? I say none. Light's a perfectionist, no way would he walk out of the house without it."

Nia shifted again and sat farther down in his seat, leaning back to stare at the car's ceiling. "What's your point?"

"Why lie about it, and why say that Ryu should pay for the meal?"

Watari glanced up from the road in the rear-view mirror. "What do you think was his motive for it?"

Ami look up at Watari. "Considering Ryu dresses like he's poor and doesn't seem to own anything of his own, it would be a stretch to say he can offhandedly afford a meal for two. Remember the looks at the orientation?"

Nia looked over at Ami. "What's your point?"

"Light knows more about Ryu than Ryu realizes. Not only does he know he's the real L, he _must_ know something about L as a _person_. He's trying to corner Ryu…" She paused. "Which I'm sure Ryu realizes…but…"

"But what?" Watari questioned.

Ami shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Notice how he didn't invite anyone else? I'm under the impression Light views us as expendable. Only Ryu is important to the plans he has…defeating 'L the detective' means something personal to him. Defeating Ryu is…a _goal_ of Light's…"

The car went silent for another moment, and then Watari spoke up. "You're thinking about this extremely hard at the moment. What brought this on?"

Ami returned to looking out the window. "The tennis match made me realize that Ryu's not paying as much attention to his personal safety as he should…and that Light will take advantage of that…and already is. And it's obvious that Ryu is a target, if not his _main_ target, at the moment at least. Light's movements are easy to guess, but not if you lack the ability to _really_ understand human nature…which is a skill Ryu tends to lag in, sadly."

Ami's cell phone started to chime, and she dug through her white shoulder bag to find it. Pulling it out, and flipped it open and found it was L calling. "Hey, do you need something? You don't usually call me directly."

Nia noticed Ami sitting in silence for a moment, listening to the phone. _She doesn't seem get that this is a dangerous game…caring about L is going to get her hurt…_

Ami looked up from her phone. "Watari, can you pull over?"

Watari looked in the mirror? "Hmm; seriously?"

"Yeah." She told me, and returned to listening to L.

Watari turned down a side street, and pulled along the wall boarding a middle class home. The area was quiet, so no one was around to take notice of the Bentley.

"…alright, we'll be over there in a bit." Ami paused. "No, I want to take Nia back to the orphanage before we go out there." She paused. "Okay." Ami then clapped her phone shut and looked up. "Yagami's been hospitalized with chest pains. Ryu's at the hospital with Light and we need to pick him up."

"Is it…" Watari started.

Ami shook her head and looked down at the phone in her lap. "No, it doesn't seem to be the work of Kira. My guess is its just stress. Ryu said the doctors just want to keep him a few days for observation and rest. He's going to be fine, I guess."

"Ah, that's good." He concurred.

"Ryu says 'there's no way it could be Kira. There's no way he'd kill him at this point.'"

Nia looked at Ami. "Why?"

Ami squeezed her cell phone. "Ryu says it's because 'Kira needs Yagami to get to him.'"

The car went silent once more. _Damn it L, how are we going to get out of this situation unscathed? Can we…?_

Ami broke the silence this time. "I wish he'd stop making me worry so much. I'm starting to feel like it's all I do."

_**Ten Minutes Later**_

L was reluctant to chit-chat with Light while trying to handle both Yagami's situation , and the dawning realization that he was slowly losing control of the situation with regards to analyzing Light. With every random or chance occurrence, it looked less and less like deductive logic could solve the case. He would end up relying more and more on Ami – something he was also reluctant to do.

"So I'm very sorry if my father's condition delays the case, but I'm sure you understand what it's like. He's overworked and under stress." Light quipped to L.

The pair stood in the hospital corridor outside of Yagami's hospital room. With his hands stuffed in his jean pockets, and finding himself unusually tired, L tried to focus on the conversation at hand, but found his mind wandering. _Hospitals remind me of being sick…_

"…will that be fine?" Light suddenly stopped talking, and appeared to be waiting for an answer to a question that L had not heard.

L blinked and looked up at Light "What? The team and case will be fine."

Light scowled at him suddenly. "You're not the most empathic person, are you?"

_What? I didn't hear him…_ "I'm sorry, I missed something."

"I wish you wouldn't just consider my father in terms of a person you can utilize for casework. He's a person."

_Ami's right, he's got a rage issue…_ L realized. _I see it now._

He fumbled for the socially-acceptable answer. "I'm sorry."

L found himself no longer able to handle the situation with his usual precision, and knew he had to exit the scene. Stepping away from in front of Light, L took several steps.

Light's voice followed him. "You know, you're an unlikely candidate for the 'great detective L.' You don't seem to have the social skills for detective-work…or maybe that explains why you have never exposed yourself."

L stopped short. _Hmm…he's trying to get me to get angry at him… _He had to re-gather his thoughts, and L looked over his left shoulder. "No one is perfect. I doubt you'd argue with that. " _Lie…_

"Perhaps." Light chuckled. "Or maybe the difficulty of the Kira case has stressed even the super detective L!"

L sighed and stared down the long hall. "I'm not the only one working on this case. It's a team effort. I play a supervisory role. I analyze the work others do…"

Light interrupted him. "Oh? I see..."

L felt his brow furrow. _Why did he cut me off…?_ L paused in his actions. "I'm going to be leaving now; Ami and Watari are expecting me." He took several more steps, but found Light's voice stopping him again.

"So what exactly _is_ Ami's role in this whole case…?"

L fought the urge to engage Light over his questioning of Ami, and forced himself into silence. He could feel himself ball his fists in his pockets and inhaled deeply. He let the situation go for the moment and walked steadily down the corridor. He wandered the hospital attempting to find the exit. _I swear…I think he's following me…_ L had the urge to check behind him, feeling Light's presence behind him – but he knew that doing so meant engaging in the previous conversation. Stumbling across the exit finally by accident, L exited the front of the hospital via a set of sliding glass doors, and started down the front of the hospitals steps. Still concentrating on avoiding a confrontation, L nearly ran into Ami as she was coming up the stairs to look for him.

"Hey…" Ami stopped him on the stairs. "You look kind of frazzled…"

L took another step down the stairs before stopping and looking back over his shoulder at Ami. "I don't want you to be in Light's presence without me present. Do you understand me?"

Ami was taken aback by L's sudden statement. "What's going on?"

He sighed. "After spending some time with him, I have to concur with your observations of him."

Ami stared intently at him. "Be straight with me, what is it you're _really_ worried about?"

L half-turned on the stairs. "He's going to use you to get to me. He'll use you to take me down, and will take you out in the process."

Ami had no words for him, and L took several more steps before stopping again. He didn't turn back at her this time, and stared down at the street. "I _am_ genuinely sorry. I never expected things to end up like this. I will do whatever I can to keep you safe, but I can't promise anything, unfortunately. For Watari as well. Your cousin could also be at risk. If I had never insisted on your help, at least you two wouldn't be…" His voice trailed off.

"We'll get though this, no doubt." She told him. _Why do I feel like I'm lying to him…?_

He had no reply to her attempt at reassurance, and continued down the stairs. He met Watari at the bottom of the stairs, who said nothing, but opened the car door for him. L slid into the Bentley, and Watari shut the door. He then opened the driver's door, got into the car, and shut the door behind him.

Ami felt a strange presence, and turned back to the hospital entrance. She found Light standing at the top of the stairs. Smiling, he gave her a quick wave, and then headed back into the hospital. The swish of the automatic doors disturbed Ami, and she found discomfort in the fact that Light had been standing there while L and her talked.

_This is just a prelude to the ugliness, I think…_ She realized.

_**Next Chapter:**_  
"Light Joins the Team"


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen:** _A High-Powered Existence_

"_Take a breath and I try to draw from my spirits well…  
Lie to me,  
Convince me that I've been sick forever.  
And all of this,  
Will make sense when I get better…"_

- "Breath No More," _Evanescence_

_**Three Hours Later**_

_"brrrng..."_

Ami looked up from her pile of case photos at L, who sat kitty-corner from her on the couch. "Hey, answer your phone."

L stared intently at scans of papers submitted to the police regarding Kira's activities

_"brrrng..."_

"Ryu, answer your phone, it's distracting."

L snapped back to reality and dug the right back pocket of his jeans for his cell phone. He pushed a button on it and held it to his ear by the antenna. "Yagami? You shouldn't be calling me directly; you should be calling Watari…"

Yagami's voice was a tad weak, but he had no trouble explaining the situation. "I received a call from the commissioner. Sakura Television received tapes designated as from Kira. Apparently Kira is demanding they be played tonight on a live broadcast."

L sat silent for a moment, and then spoke. "…what are the directions Kira gave?"

Yagami sighed. "There are three tapes, I guess. In the paper message Kira provided with them he stated that his only target is criminals." Yagami paused. "Assuming that the police or the public doesn't interfere. The television station is refusing to provide more details in advance."

L shifted in his seat. "I see."

"I apologize for not being able to be there. I'll be watching the broadcast from my room, if the television gets the station."

Sitting quietly for a moment, L stated what he had been waiting for. "I want Light to partake in the investigation."

There was silence intermixed with static on the line. "I don't like the idea." Yagami replied.

"I realize that, but…" L started, but felt interrupted when he could hear Light talking on the other end of the line. He was muttering about "alleviating the burden on Yagami." _Phony. He just wants to make himself look innocent…which works well for me._

Yagami refocused his attention to L on the phone. "Alright, I'll agree in letting Light participate, but only if you believe he is necessary to the investigation."

"I do." _Lies, lies. I may be just as phony though…_ "I'll be sending Watari to pick up Light at the hospital shortly." L then abruptly hung the phone, having grown tired of trying to hold a conversation.

There was silence in the hotel room for a moment, with Ami restarting the noise in the room with a chuckle. "You think you're pretty sneaky, don't you? Do you really think Yagami believes that?"

L tossed his cell phone to the end of the couch. "I don't know. I wonder if part of Yagami believes it could be Light. It seems illogical that he's completely convinced it couldn't be him."

Ami cocked her head to the side. "Even if he does, Light's his kid…he'll defend him even if he _is_ guilty."

L exhaled noisily, and ruffled his hair. "That's what I'm afraid of. Its one thing to believe and support someone who you think is innocent; it's another thing to have that person be family. But he's dangerous; I have to be able to keep an eye on him."

Ami snickered. "He makes you uncomfortable, doesn't he?"

He scowled in return. "I don't like him being around you."

"What are you going to do about it? Haven't thought that far ahead?" Ami chortled, and then paused. "I think you're just jealous…" She then broke out in laughter.

Her laughter was short-lived, as an electronic chirp could be heard in the room. "Is it time to replace the battery already?" She asked.

L rubbed his eyes. "I've got a couple of hours. I think it just started."

"It's only been a couple of weeks." She stated flatly. "Must be why you haven't been feeling well."

"Probably. I hadn't really considered it." He told her, appearing absent-minded.

Ami pulled her black velvet purse out from under her chair, and popped it open. She rummaged inside of it for a few moments, and pulled out the white plastic room key. Holding onto her purse, she learned over and held the card out in L's direction. "Go lie down for a while. You really need some sleep."

"That's not necessary." He told her, settling back again the couch, shutting his eyes. "And I'm not really up to going…" His voice trailed off.

The alarm chirped again – but it was several times in a row this time. Ami stood this time. "Why did you wait so long to tell me?"

She stuffed the card back into her purse, and pulled out a ring-box sized plastic container. Ami opened the box and popped out a silver coin battery from a clear-plastic tray inside of it; she let the rest of her purse fall to the floor, spilling its contents under her chair. She rounded the corner of the coffee table and knelt on the couch to the left of L. Ami pulled down the left-hand side of L's sweater's collar, exposing a plastic patch. "You're lucky you're sick or I'd scold you for all of this…"

L had no reply but glared at her intently.

She pulled back the patch, exposing a dongle with a silver battery in it. It was implanted and connected to the pacemaker in his chest. "I swear, making me worry and all…Are you ready?" She asked.

He breathed noisily with alarm. "Hn."

Holding the new battery in her right hand, she popped the old coin out with her left hand. The chirping alarm became a whine, and L gasped, grabbing a hold of Ami's arm. His movements were restricting hers, and she had to pull free of his grasp before she was able to push the new battery into the power unit. Upon the battery's activation, the alarm suddenly ceased, and L began to cough violently. Ami struggled, but after a moment was able to smooth the patch back over the dongle, securing it back against his chest. Sitting forward, L continued to cough for a few more moments. Meanwhile, Ami hunted down the used coin battery which had rolled under the couch.

Alerted by the noise, Watari entered the living room from the kitchen. Finding Ami on her knees next to the coffee table, and L still coughing, he asked: "Is everything okay in here?"

Kicking aside some of the items that had spilled from her purse, and from the coffee table in the confusion, Ami sat down on the couch next to L. He was intermittently coughing, and Ami gently patted him on the back. "Everything's fine."

Watari started back towards the kitchen, but Ami knew she had to bring the subject – even if L didn't want to hear it. "Watari…we need to discuss his health. It's time."

Watari came up behind the couch, and L coughed once again. "What's the situation?" Watari asked.

"Now is not the time to discuss this." L stated flatly.

Ami ignored his disdain. "Actually right now _is_ the time to discuss this." Ami stated while she adjusted L's collar. "The batteries are running out faster and faster. We may have to consider a larger battery pack…."

"No. It'll impact the investigation." L stated. He started to stand up abruptly to avoid the conversation, but only got part of the way up before settling back against the couch in exhaustion.

Watari stood silently, waiting for Ami and L to have out the discussion. _They need to stop fighting over this… _"I am _more_ than willing to hospitalize you if you refuse to take better care of yourself."

Ami was shocked at Watari's sudden suggestion. "Watari!"

L ignored the suggestion.

"Do as Ami asks, _please_. She's just doing it for your benefit. I'm not going to continue to listen to you balk at every healthy suggestion. You're an adult, act like one."

L pulled his knees up and buried his face in them, trying to block out the situation.

Ami was fast to change the subject matter, figuring that L had gotten the point. "I'm going to call the rest of the team while you go and get Light."

Watari went to a linen closet and pulled out a beige blanket, returned to the couch, and handed it to Ami. She moved from sitting on the couch to the coffee table, shuffling aside the photos and diagrams on the table. As she did, L laid down on the couch, taking up the spot she had been occupying. He continued to hide his face, even as Ami laid the blanket over him.

In silence and anger, Watari picked up his hat and coat from the table next to the exit, and showed himself out.

"You know…" Ami started.

L rolled over, ignoring her and avoiding any discussion.

Ami decided that L was shutting her out over the situation, and decided that it was not worth the fight. She knelt on the floor and picked up the articles that had fallen out of her purse, piling them upon the table. Finding her cell phone and room cards, she stood up and showed her self out, leaving L to sleep.

_**Twenty Minutes Later**_

With a click of the main room's door key in the lock, Ami pushed open the door to be greeted by silence. Ami walked over to the back of the couch, and to her surprise found L still soundly asleep. Rounding the couch, she knelt down and started to shake L awake. "Ryu, wake up. Watari will be back any minute."

Awake enough to sit up, L rubbed his eyes and let the blanket slip part of the way down onto the floor. Pushing the blanket back onto the couch, Ami realized he looked exhausted. "Are you up to doing this?"

L's reply was a garbled "hmm."

"Hey, I'll run the first part of the meeting, okay? You need to be fully awake to deal with Light." _Please let him be too sleepy to argue with me…_ She pulled him up from the couch, stepping to the side. Ami pressed her room card into his hand and started to pull him towards the door. Despite being stronger than her, in his stupor was too confused to balk and pull away.

She pulled him to the door and holding him by the arm, opened the door and pushed him into the hallway. The change of scenery seemed to alert him and L realized what was going on. Before he could protest Ami shut the door on him. "I'll come get you when it's time for the broadcast."

A moment passed. "You realize I have the room key on me."

_Darn it, he has his wallet on him._ "Um…"

L tried the door handle, so Ami chained the door shut. _Ha!_

He managed to get the door unlocked, but the door snapped at the chain, stopping it from opening more than a few inches.

Having stepped away from the door, secure in knowing it wouldn't open, Ami yelled towards the door: "Would you go lay down already?"

There was silence.

"Hmm. Guess he gave up. Easier than I expected." She strolled back to the door and pushed it all of the way shut.

**Next Chapter:**  
"Cellular Confusion"


End file.
